There's Something More In Friendship's Faith
by FlameofIsis
Summary: Tempest is a young superhero with the power over fire. But, what secrets lie within that could ruin her life and, possibly, kill the one she loves? Speedy/Red ArrowxOC
1. Defiance part 1

**Disclaimer**- I do not own anything of Young Justice. All I own are my OC's.

**From Author**- So, I'm trying another superhero story. I know my Teen Titans story didn't really work out but, I've had new passion for Young Justice since they (finally) started coming out with new episodes. And, I just found out that they're not going to make the fans wait for season 2! It's coming out the week after the final episode of season 1! I'm so happy.

Alright, a few things I need to say before I start this. 1. I know people who are big fans of DC universe might get mad about this but **I am NOT using the same Tempest or Andromeda from DC comics. I didn't even know there were characters with those names until I looked it up. And I looked it up AFTER I came up with this story idea and the characters themselves. **2. For people who don't know, my style of writing is a roleplaying sort of thing. Which means I create a character, put her into the story and she goes along with the adventures and everything. Don't worry, though, I have my own plans and twists for her character. So please, I don't want to hear people saying things about the role playing style of writing. There, that should do it.

**About This Series**- Amber Parkinson is a seventeen year old superhero, hero identity Tempest, who is best friends with Roy Harper (Speedy/Red Arrow). Like everyone in this world, she has secrets. But, could these secrets be so dark that it could ruin everything? And, what other secrets does she not know about that could also curse her to walk the Earth alone?

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><p>Being a teenager is rough. You got acne, social crisis, crushes, and (for girls) "cramps" and also just doing what you can to find out who you really are.<p>

Now, mix that with also being a teenage _superhero_. Yeah, it's no walk in the park, believe me, because I am one. A seventeen year old superhero with the power to manipulate and conjure fire and can also detect body heat to a certain distance.

As for my appearance, well, I wouldn't really call myself pretty but I guess, according to my mother, I am. I mean, don't girls usually not think of themselves as attractive sometimes?

My chocolate brown hair extends past my neck, past my shoulder blades and stops around my mid-back. My hair is just not plain brown, though. I have red streaks in them. I've had them for many years. I got them around the same time I developed my powers actually which, I'm still confused as to how I "obtained" them.

My eyes are a glossy blue/green color and I do actually like them….a lot. Probably one of my favorite features that I like about myself.

"Amber, Amber, sweetie, you better put your outfit on, we need to go. It's time." My mother called from the other room of my house.

My mother's name is Emily Parkinson but most of the world knows her as Andromeda, a member of the Justice League. She has the same powers as I do only, she knows more advanced techniques than me. For example, she can use the thrust from the flames she conjures to fly.

I cannot wait until my powers develop to that stage!

Anyway, I began putting on my superhero outfit. The first thing I slipped on was my top. It was a sleeveless, black V-neck top with a red neckline that reveals the stomach and has a flame design on the chest. Next, my black skirt with a red waistline that went to the knee which also had a flame design on. Next, my black boots that stopped around mid-shin and has, again, a flame design on them. Finally, I slipped on my black mask.

I left my room and met up with my mother, who had the same colors on her outfit except the flame designs are more orange and yellow while mine are red and orange. Her top doesn't reveal her belly and she has pants instead of a skirt. But, she does have boots but with a heel instead of my slip-on boots. Her hair is a plain, dark brown color that goes to her shoulders and she has brown eyes.

"You ready, dear?" She asked me. I smiled and nodded at her. She smiled back at me and we headed over to the closest zeta tube from our house to get to Washington D.C. We had to zeta because we live in Star City, which is about thirty miles from San Francisco.

When we got to Washington D.C., we made our way over to our true destination: the Hall of Justice. I was getting excited. I've been waiting for this day for two years. I could barely contain my joy but I knew I had to remain somewhat calm because the media was going to be everywhere and it wouldn't exactly look good if the protégé of Andromeda was seen in the front of the Hall of Justice squealing like a little school girl.

Anyway, we finally made our way over to the Hall of Justice to see Batman, Robin, Aquaman, Aqualad, Green Arrow and Speedy there already. We went over and greeted everyone. Everyone was here, except for…

"Why are we _always_ the last ones?" Kid Flash said as he and his mentor, Flash, suddenly appeared by us. I laughed at that and went over to my best friend, Speedy, to chat with him.

"Hey, Speedy." I greeted, walking to his side. He gave me a small smile as I approached.

"Hey, Tempest." He greeted back. Yes, that is my hero name. "You excited?" He asked.

"Are you kidding? I barely slept last night I was so excited!" Speedy chuckled at my response to which I giggled in return. Then, our group began walking inside but I stayed by Speedy to continue talking with him.

"So, I heard on the news that you and Green Arrow took out Icicle Jr. today." I commented, ignoring the flashes from the cameras and the media trying to get a word from us.

"Yeah, he wasn't much of a challenge, though." Speedy commented.

"Well, the way you fight, I always feel bad for people who get in your way." I joked but still kinda meant it. I saw a grin tugging at Speedy's lips and I knew I just boosted his ego.

When I first became Andromeda's sidekick, Speedy and I didn't get along all that well. But, as time went on and because my mother would go on missions with Green Arrow, Speedy and I got closer, eventually becoming best friends. But, after two years, my feelings have grown stronger.

Yes, you guessed it. I'm in love with him.

Have I told him? No.

_Will_ I tell him?

….Eventually.

Right now, I was focused on the fact that we were actually entering the Hall of Justice and going through step one at becoming a League member. I mean, I've been to the Hall of Justice before but not really inside.

Anyway, we made our way inside where Martian Manhunter was waiting for us. He greeted us and then led us inside, giving us a small tour. Our last destination was the library which also had a giant computer screen, high-tech keyboard and a door that read, "Justice League members only." Right by the door was what looked like a camera but was actually the scanner for the zeta tube.

"I hope this isn't it…" Speedy muttered to me, crossing his arms. I laid a hand on his arm to calm him down for I could feel his anger building.

"Relax, Speedy, this is just the beginning. Besides, I wouldn't expect them to just be like, here it is! I think we need to go through steps first." I said. Speedy shot a hard look at me.

"But, we already did that! For years!" He shouted, catching everyone's attention.

"Roy? Is there something you want to say?" Green Arrow asked, turning to his partner. I tried to stop Roy, because I knew he was angry, but, it was futile. He pushed me off and glared at his mentor.

"Yes, there is. We train for years to become part of the League and when you finally say it's time all you people give us is a glorified backstage pass! So what if we're in this room? People can still see it." Then, he motioned up to the glass above us which, on the other side, showed the media taking pictures.

"Calm down, Roy. This is the first step in becoming…" Green Arrow was cut off.

"Don't give me any of that. We deserve better than this. And, I'm sure the others will agree." Speedy turned to the rest of us. I gazed at the other boys who just gave Roy a straight face, showing no sign that they actually agreed with him.

"I don't believe this…" Speedy muttered. Then, he looked at me to see if I agreed with him. I really wanted to but, the League has never led us wrong before so they wouldn't deceive us now.

"Sorry, Speedy, I kinda have to agree with the others." At my answer, the redhead glared at me behind his mask, making me wince slightly.

"You're going to agree with them? When they never even told you where the _real_ League's headquarters is?" Speedy said to us, making mine and the rest of the sidekick's eyes go wide.

"Yeah, exactly. This isn't the real headquarters. The real one is called the Watchtower and it's sitting in space!" He informed us, making all of us look back at our mentors. Batman seemed the most upset with Green Arrow informing his sidekick of this apparent secret.

"If I can't be treated like a partner or an adult then there's no point in me staying here." Speedy said, turning back to Green Arrow. He glared at him, took off his hat and threw it to the ground. Then, without another word, he left. I stared at the other sidekicks. They all had looks of shock on their faces.

Just when I was about to turn around and say something to the League, Superman's face came up on the giant screen, grabbing everyone's attention. He informed everyone about a fire at Cadmus. I had no idea what Cadmus was but, the others seems suspicious about it. However, Zatara came up on the screen in a new video file next to Superman and told everyone of another problem: Wotan was trying to block out the sun.

It seems the blocking out the sun problem was a bigger issue (obviously) so they all decided to go after that problem. As for us? Well, they told us to stay here until they got back.

Okay, why do I get the feeling I'm being treated like a two year old? Sorry, let me rephrase that: that _we're_ being treated like two year olds.

"This is ridiculous…" I muttered once the League members left via zeta tube.

"How can they treat us like this?" Kid Flash vented, waving his hands around to exaggerate his point.

"How could they not trust us?" Aqualad added, looking downcast. Speedy was right. And now that we're here, we need to do something about it.

So, what did we do? Research Project Cadmus.

"Robin, it never ceases to amaze me…and slightly freak me out…that you can do this stuff." I said while watching Robin hack the system. All those crazy numbers and pixel things were making my head and eyes hurt just by looking at them.

Anyway, we found out Cadmus was a genetics lab but that was about it. But still, we saw this as an opportunity to do some "digging." We'll worry about the consequences with the League later. Right now, we are just bent on proving ourselves.

Hey, after all, we _are_ teenagers and rebellion is in our blood.

Once we made our way over to Cadmus, we helped the fire department save a few innocent bystanders before entering the building. I hitched a ride with Aqualad on his little water ride while Robin and Kid Flash found their own way up.

Once inside, Robin immediately went for the computer to look for any information while Kid Flash and I began looking through drawers and things to find anything useful. Aqualad scouted around the floor we were on.

"There was something in that elevator." He informed us a moment later. We stopped what we were doing and went to look.

"Shouldn't the elevators be shut down because of the fire?" I asked while we checked out the machinery. Robin then began looking up something on his PDA, hacking the information.

"This building is only two stories so why should there be an express elevator here?" He asked rhetorically, knowing none of us would know the answer….yet.

We opened up the elevator to truly see that it was an express. Robin used his rope to swing down while we followed down it, but we ended up stopping because the rope was at its end. He hacked the system again to unlock the floor level door we were on: SL 26.

When we got inside, all we could do was stare with wide eyes and mouths slightly open. There were these….things walking around the floor. They were some type of creatures. There were big ones that stood probably twenty feet tall with scaly skin and huge appendages and walked like gorillas. There were also smaller creatures, similar in looks except for the size, that were hitching a ride on the bigger creature's backs or shoulders. They had little horns on top of their heads and red eyes.

"Umm…question, would this be considered, ya know, _suspicious_?" I asked, sarcastically as we watched the creatures walk by us and down the hall.

"Let's keep investigating. Find out what these….creatures are." Aqualad said as we made our way down one of the random hallways of the floor. Again, Robin hacked to unlock the nearby door and what was inside was probably crazier than those things we just saw.

It was some type of laboratory with giant glass tubes filled with more of those creatures, except this time, they weren't as small as those little ones nor as big as those gorilla-like ones. They were also conducting what looked like to be electricity from their bodies, which seemed to be powering not only this room but possibly the whole Cadmus building.

"No wonder they were able to stay hidden for so long…" Kid Flash said as we walked around, looking at these things. Robin went over to the nearest computer and began hacking once again.

"Alright, they're called…genomorphs. Whoa, guys, look at this! These things are crazy…super strength, telepathy, and that's not just all." He explained once he was successful in hacking the system.

"Weapons. That's all these things are. And that's what Cadmus is doing down here." I said, looking over Robin's shoulder at the stats on the genomorphs. Robin then found something about a Project Kr but, he couldn't hack it because of the high security on the file.

Just then, we heard someone yell to us. When we turned to see who it was, we saw a small group of genomorphs, about medium size with razor sharp claws and teeth and the same red eyes. They were accompanied by a man in a black suit, yellow gauntlets and yellow helmet.

"Robin? Kid Flash? Aqualad? Tempest? What are you all doing here?" The man asked.

"I could ask you the same thing, Guardian." Aqualad answered.

"And maybe answer the question like, why are you here with Cadmus when they are creating weapons?" I asked him. He seemed shocked by this information but the little genomorph on his shoulder looked at him, his horns turning red then suddenly, Guardian ordered the other genomorphs to attack us.

I stepped forward and created a firewall to block the creatures from getting to us while the boys ran past me and after them. When the wall was no longer needed, I put it down and began shooting fireballs at the genomorphs attacking me. They dodged some of them but finally, they made contact.

"Tempest, move!" Aqualad ordered as he ran for the exit alongside Kid Flash. I asked no questions but followed them, running down a hallway where Robin was trying to hack a computer for a nearby elevator. He finally did it and we ran inside, heading down.

Wait, _down_?

"We need to check out what this Project Kr is." Robin answered once I asked. Aqualad sighed.

"We're in way over our heads here." He said. A moment later, we heard the elevator ding and then, the doors opened, revealing the new floor we were on. It looked…alive, almost like the inside of a body, specifically an intestine. Gross.

"Which way should we go?" Kid Flash asked as we came upon two different hallways. We didn't have time to decide because coming around the corner of the left hallway was what look like another genomorph, only he stood on two feet like a man. And he _talked_.

Could this day get any weirder?

He began using his telekinesis to throw anything that was in the room at us, causing us to run down the right hallway, which was our only escape. We finally came to a door that read "Project Kr" on it and went inside. Robin sealed the locks to buy us some time.

The room we were in was dark. The only light was coming from the computer system a few feet in front of us. Robin studied it for a moment then clicked a button, turning on more lights and also, revealing something else. It was a giant pod and had someone inside it! He had black hair, was wearing a white suit, his eyes were closed, almost like he was sleeping and three of those little genomorphs were inside with him. On the front of the pod read the letters "Kr." But, the thing that really caught my attention was what was on his chest. It was an "S" symbol, the same symbol that Superman uses.

"What….who is he?" I asked, staring at the boy in the pod. Robin began to hack and a moment later, began explaining.

"His name is Superboy. It seems Cadmus got their hands on Superman's DNA and created him….only sixteen weeks ago!" Robin ended his sentence in shock.

"That's insane!" I exclaimed, walking back over to the boys.

"What about these creatures? They're slightly different from the other ones we faced." Aqualad asked, motioning to the little genomorphs inside the pod.

"Genomorph gnomes. They help with educating him about the world." Robin explained after reading more about them on the file. I shook my head, trying to take this information in.

"This is crazy….we need to tell the League about this." I said. The others nodded and Aqualad tried to use the communicator on his outfit but, it was no use. We have no signals down here. Awesome.

"Okay but while we're here, we need to figure out what to do with Superboy. I mean, we can't just leave him here. It's not right." Kid Flash said. We all agreed to this and Robin set him free.

The pod slowly opened and it took a moment for Superboy to realize what was going on. But then, he opened his eyes and stared at us. Suddenly, he came right at us, first going after Aqualad, pinning him to the ground. We ran over to stop him.

"Relax! We're on your side!" Robin cried as he and Kid Flash grabbed onto each of his arms to stop him from punching Aqualad. I grabbed him around the middle to help pull him off the Atlantean.

Then, he punched Kid Flash, making him go flying back through the glass of another tube that was in the room, smack into the wall and hit the ground, knocking him out cold. Then, he wiggled free of my grip and kicked me in the gut, sending me back against the wall.

I shook it off and got up to help the others. I looked to see that Robin was somehow now underneath Superboy, who had pinned him down with his foot and was crushing Robin's ribs. I growled and made two fire whips in my hands, cracking them to get the clone's attention. He looked over at me and I swung the whip around and then cracked it at the leg that was putting pressure on Robin's body. Superboy jumped back from the sting and I then used the whip to wrap it around his body and then threw him into the wall.

"Please, stop this! We're trying to help you." Aqualad said once he got out his water weapons. Superboy didn't listen, he went straight for Aqualad again. I helped him by making my whip go around Superboy's waist again to pull him off my friend. But then, the clone grabbed onto the whip and thrashed me around like a rag doll. I let go of my whips to save myself from being thrown into the wall again. Although, I still took a hard fall.

I staggered to my feet and looked up to see that Superboy had also incapacitated Aqualad. I glared at him and created balls of fire in my hands.

"Why do you still fight us when we set you free?" I shouted at him but my words hit dead ears again because he ran right at me. I shot fireballs at him but that seemed to do nothing. And, even though I was good with hand-to-hand combat, there was no way I'd stand against the might of Superman.

I ducked and rolled to dodge one of his punches and shot a fireball at his face. It hit and he screamed from the impact but that only seemed to make him angrier. His moves got faster due to this new anger and this time, when he went to hit me, he made contact and my body smashed against the computers by the pod, including my head, which began to spin.

The last thing I remember seeing was a pair of blue eyes glaring down at me.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>- Dang, I didn't realize I would make it this long but wow! It came out long. Not bad for the pilot chapter, eh?

So, you all got a little bit of Tempest's character but, there is more to her character than just what you've read. You'll find out in later chapters. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter so please review and stayed tuned for the next one!


	2. Defiance part 2

**Disclaimer**- I do not own anything of Young Justice except my OC's.

**From Author**- Thank you to those who reviewed and added this story to your favorites! I'm happy to see this story is already getting popular and only on the first chapter! So, thank you all again. I won't talk much so here's chapter 2!

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><p>It was dark in my mind. I can't quite explain what it's like. It's different when you simply fall asleep but when you're knocked unconscious, it feels different. It just seems more….dangerous when you're knocked unconscious because you don't know what state your body will be in once you regain consciousness.<p>

_Wake up, young hero. You and the others are needed and are in danger_.

Wait, who was that? Talking to me…in my mind?

_Please, you must wake up before it's too late. Wake up now!_

Almost as if a jolt of electricity hit my body, my body responded by snapping my eyes open. I gazed around. I was in a pod, similar to the one Superboy was in except this pod was attached to the wall, halfway up. Metal rings trapped my wrists and ankles, preventing me from moving much. I couldn't use my powers when my hands were bound like this.

"Tempest, you alright?" Kid Flash asked from next to me. I looked to my left to see him in his own pod, bound as well. Next to him on his left was Aqualad, also bound. To my right was Robin, bound like the rest of us.

"I'm alright." I assured my friends and then noticed we weren't the only ones in the room. I turned my attention to the other person in the room, Superboy, who was just standing there, staring at us from about ten feet away.

"What's he doing here?" Kid Flash snapped. My head whipped over to him.

"K.F., if I wasn't chained up right now, I'd kick you. Don't speak to him like that." I scolded.

"Hey! He attacked us!"

"I do believe he wasn't in full control of what he was doing…am I right?" Aqualad asked, turning the last question to Superboy. The clone looked down for a moment and then, with the slightest bit of motion from his head, nodded.

"I…I don't think I was…in control." He muttered, shocking us. So, he _can_ talk.

"What other things have the genomorphs taught you?" Aqualad asked. Superboy looked back up at us.

"Many things: to read, to write….showed me images of things in this world." He explained.

"Just images? They never let you see the real things?" Robin asked and Superboy shook his head.

"What about who you are? Did they tell you that?" I asked. This time, Superboy nodded.

"I am the clone of Superman. I was created to take over for him if he dies…or kill him if he becomes evil." He answered which shocked all of us.

"That's very honorable of you to be like Superman but, down here, you won't have much choice for a life. If you help us, we can show you real things in this world…and introduce you to Superman." Aqualad said to him. Superboy looked up at him in shock and awe at this proposition.

"I don't think so," A voice came to our ears as the doors opened, revealing Guardian, that man-like genomorph with the big horns, two scientists and a few of those little gnomes.

"Get the weapon back to his pod, _now_!" The male scientist said. Guardian went to escort Superboy out but Superboy backed away from him. Then, one of the little gnomes jumped onto Superboy's shoulder and his horns glowed. Then, the clone followed orders and walked out of the room.

"He's not a weapon! He deserves to have a life!" I shouted at the scientist but he just ignored me.

"Begin the cloning process and when you're done extracting their DNA, kill them." The male scientist said to the others. Then, this mechanism came up in front of me and the boys. It opened up, showing four separate needles and then, stabbed straight into our chests. I screamed from the impact but screamed even more when these shockwaves went through my body. The pain was excruciating, almost unbearable.

A few minutes later, however, the door to the room burst open, damaging other parts of the room which, in turn, turned off the needles electrocuting us. I sighed in relief as the currents stopped but still felt a little prickling pain because the needles were still jabbed in my chest.

Superboy easily pushed away the others in the room. By that time, Robin had uncuffed himself and jumped down, holding his wrists. Then, he jumped right back up on my pod and uncuffed me while Superboy freed Kid Flash and Aqualad.

My arms felt a little stiff when I first jumped down but, they quickly loosened up. As we left the room, Robin threw a few explosives at the pods holding our DNA, causing them to explode.

We ran down the hallways back towards the elevator, our current destination since we were miles below the surface. But, halfway to our escape route, those gorilla-like genomorphs came around the corner in the nearby side hallways, causing us to stop before we crashed into them. Then, the little egg-like things attached to the walls opened up, bringing out more of the genomorphs. They surrounded us. Perfect.

"No time to fight, we need to get to that elevator." Aqualad said as we all jumped around and avoided the genomorphs but Superboy had other plans. He began attacking them.

"Superboy, stop! If you keep this up, you'll cause the ceiling to crash down on us!" I cried to him over his screams of fury and numerous punches. Then, he threw one of the genomorphs at two others, knocking them down.

We all headed to the elevator and Aqualad pried the door open. Robin zip-lined up, carrying me with him while Superboy grabbed Kid Flash and Aqualad and began flying up behind us. But then, he started to fall. Robin, thinking quickly, tossed one of his birdarangs at the wall by them and Aqualad grabbed onto it. Kid Flash dropped onto a small ledge-like part sticking out of the wall by them.

"I can't fly…." Superboy muttered as Robin zip-lined the both of us back down to where the others were. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, Superboy." I assured him while Aqualad kicked open the elevator door by him. Just in time too, the elevator was coming down towards us so we had no choice but to go on the floor we were on. We were on SL-15 so we still had a good number of floors to get out of here. But, with the genomorphs behind us, we had to find another way up.

Speaking of genomorphs….

"This way!" Superboy said and we followed him down the hallway. We ran down a few more hallways, continuing to follow the clone but then we hit a dead end with only a ventilation opening on the wall.

"Great! Dead end!" Kid Flash said, throwing his hands in the air. Robin, however, found this an opportunity. We all climbed into the vent and crawled our way through.

"Ow! KF, would you quit shoving?" I whipped my head around to hiss at the young speedster. He adjusted the goggles on his head.

"Sorry but this isn't exactly the fast lane to escape out of here." He said. I rolled my eyes and continued crawling as Robin explained he had an idea to buy us some time. When we exited the vent, he hacked a nearby computer and hacked the motion sensors and cameras in the building so that the Cadmus people wouldn't be able to track us…for now, at least.

"Alright, this way." Aqualad said as we went through a door nearby that ended up being a stairwell. Kid Flash ran up ahead, knocking down about a half dozen of the smaller genomorphs in our path while we followed behind. I could hear more of the creatures behind us but Superboy was already on it. He kicked part of the stairwell off, causing the creatures to fall below.

We ran up the rest of the way but then, an alarm sounded, closing up a doorway down the hallway on the top floor. Kid Flash couldn't react in time and ended up slamming into the door. I ran over to help him up while Superboy and Aqualad tried prying open the door.

"I don't have time to hack this…" Robin said, glancing behind him to see more of the giant genomorphs coming towards us. Then, I noticed a side door.

"Over here." I called to them, kicking open the door and running through. The others followed behind me but, we didn't get far. Down the hall were a bunch of the giant genomorphs, the smaller ones and the gnomes along with Guardian and that man-like genomorph. The genomorphs that were following us came up behind us. We prepared to fight but then, something strange happened. No one hit me but, I felt like someone did, making my vision go black for probably about a minute or so before I opened my eyes again.

When I did, the others were also coming to, except Superboy, who was already standing and seemed to be having a conversation with the genomorph that knocked us out. No words were exchanged so they must have been having a telepathic conversation. Then, Superboy declared that he wished to be human and be free.

Meanwhile, Guardian seemed to come to his senses because the gnomes no longer manipulated his thoughts. He looked over at us after he took a moment to clear his thoughts.

"Get out of here, you guys. I'll take care of Desmond." He said but then, the scientist, I'm guessing was Desmond, appeared behind him.

"None of you will leave here alive. Not while I have Project Blockbuster with me." He said, holding up a vile of light blue liquid. Then, he drank the stuff and slowly, began to change form. I stepped back and watched in horror as his skin was pushed out, being ripped off his body while a new flesh body was created underneath, giving him a more monstrous and grotesque look. Pieces of his skin still lingered on his body and he growled at us when his transformation was complete.

Guardian went to attack him but Desmond swatted him away like a fly. Superboy then charged him, giving a few punches and receiving a few. Then, Desmond grabbed him and burst through the ceiling to the topmost floor, back on the surface.

"He gives a new definition to the term _mad_ scientist." Kid Flash said as he and Robin zip-lined up to the floor after the two. Aqualad helped me up to the floor as we watched Superboy get thrown onto the floor right next to us by Desmond.

When he got back up, Kid Flash ran at Desmond, distracting him long enough for Superboy and Aqualad to punch him in the face, knocking him down. Then, Robin and I double teamed him. He threw a few explosives at him but Desmond shoved them aside while I attacked him with fireballs. Some made contact but then, he backhanded me, making me fly into one of the nearby pillars in the building.

When I regained my composure, I saw both Superboy and Aqualad get tossed around by Desmond. Kid Flash sped over to help but ended being crashed into a wall by the monstrosity. Quickly, I made my flames in the form of a rope and tied it around Desmond's neck, pulling with all my strength. He let out what sounded like a mix between a snarl and a choke as he staggered but still kept his balance.

He went to grab at the ropes around his neck but I made them disappear, changing them into whips and cracking them at his back and head. He growled as he charged at me. I tried whipping him again but he pushed them away like nothing and continued to come at me. He went to punch me but at the last second, I made a small firewall to protect my face. The impact of the punch still sent me reeling but it lessened the damage.

Before Desmond could punch me again, Superboy stepped in front and began attacking him. Then, Aqualad came after him as well and the two double-team him. Even so, that seemed to do hardly any damage to him. Still, I did my best to help them but ended up being flung into a wall….again.

"Tempest, over here!" Robin called to me once I stopped seeing stars. I ran over and he began showing me, Aqualad and Superboy a plan to take down Desmond. We had to demolish the supporting pillars in the building. Kid Flash was busy distracting the monster and making him demolish the pillars by himself without him realizing.

Anyway, I helped the boys destroy the other pillars. Then, Aqualad poured water on the ground nearby. Kid Flash ran through the water, skidding to a halt while Desmond followed. Once the redhead was out of harm's way, Aqualad used his electricity to zap the monster and knock him out.

"Move, _now_!" Robin cried as we all ran for the exit. I heard three explosions behind me, most likely due to Robin's explosives discs. With the last of the pillars gone, the building started crashing down on us. We couldn't make it to the door so Superboy pulled me and Kid Flash under him while Aqualad shielded Robin as best he could.

After a minute or so of remaining completely still and waiting out the rest of the crashing building, Superboy pushed through the rubble and we emerged, tattered and beat up, but alive. My top had a big tear on the side and my skirt had some huge holes in it here and there.

"We're…alive…" I panted, holding my injured side. I was definitely going to be sore for a few days. We stepped out of the rubble and back onto solid ground. We barely managed to speak another word to each other when suddenly Superman, followed by the rest of the Justice League, came over.

Superboy showed himself to Superman and explained who he was. Everyone looked shocked but Superman looked the most surprised. Batman demanded to know what happened and we explained to them, in detail, what happened down below.

"Give us a moment to think this over." Batman said as he walked over with the others. Superman kept glancing over at us, most likely at Superboy, but quickly turned away. He then came over to us.

"The League will help you get you on your feet. But, right now, I better help the others with that creature." He said, flying off to help the Green Lanterns take care of Desmond. Superboy looked downcast as he glared at the ground. I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He looked at me and I smiled at him. Then, Batman, Flash, Aquaman and Andromeda came over to us.

"Cadmus will be searched but as for the rest of you…" Batman was cut off by Andromeda.

"We're very disappointed in all of you." But, as she said it, her gaze was directed at me. I rubbed my arm nervously and looked down.

"Yes, she is right. And, because of your rash actions, none of you will be doing any of this again." Batman scolded. I looked back up at my teammates who had disagreement written all over their faces.

"I'm sorry Batman but you're wrong." Aqualad said. His mentor reproached him but Aqualad stood firm.

"This is exactly what we've been trained for." He said.

"And we're proud of the results. We saved Superboy's life and took down a dangerous villain." I added.

"If you wouldn't allow us to do this then why train us at all?" Robin asked Batman who just narrowed his eyes at him for a moment.

"We're a team…" Kid Flash started.

"And we intend to stay that way." Superboy ended. Our mentors stayed silent, thinking this over.

"Give me three days and then we'll decide." Batman finally said and then, we were escorted to the Hall of Justice's hospital wing to have our wounds tended to. Afterwards, Mother and I used the zeta tubes to go back home. When I got home and lay down, I realized just how tired I was and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep the moment I shut my eyes.

Three days later, we all got together at Mount Justice. Batman explained this will be the new home for the team. We would be handling covert missions, which Batman himself will provide. Red Tornado ended up being our "den mother" and Black Canary was our training instructor. That wasn't all. We also got a new team member.

"This is Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter's niece." Batman introduced as a green skinned girl with shoulder length red hair came in beside her uncle. We all went over to introduce ourselves while Kid Flash began flirting with the poor girl.

"Geez, KF, don't scare the girl off so early." I joked as he shot me a small glare, making me laugh.

Well, we finally got what we wanted. A real team and we would be going on real missions. Today is a good day, that's for sure.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>- Alright, there's the end of chapter 2! I hope you all liked this one. I know the first two chapters were more…introductory but don't worry, the others will come out and will have my own ideas mixed in. And, believe me, I got some ideas that you guys will love! Please review!


	3. The Heart of All Things Obstinate

**Disclaimer**- I do not own anything of Young Justice.

**From Author**- Thank you KilalaInara for reviewing. I always look forward to your reviews! I would also like to thank X-Anime-X-FanAddict-X for the wonderful and inspirational message she sent me after reading the first two chapters! I hope to make all of my fans proud when reading this story.

Now, just a little note before I continue with the actual chapter. I will be honest here, I did _not_ like this episode all that much. I mean, the show starts off all kick-ass and then, Welcome to Happy Harbor airs. And, because there wasn't much Roy in the first two chapters, I'm going to have this one dealing with Tempest and Roy. Please don't think I'm making her hang all over Roy because, even though I plan a little fluff in this chapter, they're still going to treat each other normally. And by normal I mean teasing, probing at each other and ticking each other off in their friendly ways. Okay, that's enough from me. Enjoy chapter 3!

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><p>It's been about a week since we moved into Mount Justice. By now, we've all become pretty comfortable with not only the place itself, but also, the people living in it. Sure, there were a few times we'd get on each other's nerves but that's typical teammate stuff. It was bound to happen.<p>

As for missions, well, so far, Batman has yet to show up with one. All of us were starting to get suspicious about this. Did the Justice League still think we can't handle team missions? Is that why they were taking so long with handing out missions?

"Tempest," Aqualad's voice came to my ears as he approached me in the lobby of our new home. "Speedy informed me about the villain Brick smuggling weapons onto the docks in Star City. Would you like to come along with me, Kid Flash and Robin to help?" He asked, coming alongside me. I quirked a brow at him.

"Speedy actually asked for help?" I asked, stunned at the fact that the redheaded loner actually did such a thing, especially after his performance at the Hall of Justice a week ago. Aqualad chuckled.

"Not entirely. But still, why not go and help anyway? I'm sure you're just as anxious as the rest of us to get out there and do something." He said. Well, I definitely couldn't disagree with that statement.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm in. Let's go."

So, after suiting up, we all used the zeta beams to zap ourselves over to Star City. Then, we made our way over to the docks. And just like Aqualad said, Brick was there, along with his goons trying to rustle in some weapons. The dock was full of crates, perfect for sneak attacks on these guys.

We all snuck behind the crates and not too far away, we saw Speedy sneaking around as well. He glanced over at us and almost as if not believing his eyes, did a double take and narrowed his eyes at us. He crept over to us.

"I told you guys I don't need your help!" He snarled under his breath. I rolled my eyes.

"Nice to see you too, Speedy." I joked. Speedy opened his mouth to say something back but then, Aqualad put a finger to his mouth, indicating for us to be quiet.

"Let's deal with the matter at hand, here." He whispered.

"Yeah, fight the bad guys first and then you two can fight each other to your heart's content." Robin joked, laughing. Speedy and I glared at him but we said nothing else as we moved to different positions behind the crates. Speedy jumped up onto the crates, climbing and jumping his way over to the giant crane that was sitting stationary on the dock's floor.

As the goons began taking out the guns from the crates, Speedy shot one of his arrows at them, distracting them and causing them to drop the guns. Brick picked up one of them that fell and pointed it at Speedy, who was now in clear view.

Furious, Brick began shooting at Speedy constantly but Speedy moved quickly to dodge the bullets. Then, using his keen marksman skills, shot an arrow at the gun, right in the hole, causing it to explode in Brick's hand. He wasn't happy but when he ordered his henchmen to go after the archer, the boys and I acted.

I saw the boys take down their set off goons while I threw fireball after fireball at them, destroying the guns and weapons they held in their hands and, eventually, knocking them out.

We jumped back onto the crates and took this moment to get a few words in to each other. Mainly, we tried to convince Speedy to join the team.

"The Cave is awesome, Speedy." I said, landing next to Robin.

"We're doing covert missions, mainly." He added. But, our conversation was cut short because Brick began throwing giant boulders of rock at us. Robin zip-lined away while I used my fire ropes to wrap around the rock, swing it around and then, throw it back in Brick's direction. He punched it head-on and broke it to pieces.

Then, Speedy began shooting explosive arrows at Brick. Even though they detonated right on his body, he barely staggered and actually laughed at the archer.

"This ain't a job for kids, boy. You better be careful or you'll get hurt." The giant smirked at Speedy. He shouldn't have said that. That's the exact kind of talk that will flare up Speedy's temper.

The redhead proved it by shooting another arrow at Brick. This time, when it attached to his body, red foam began erupting around him, completely engulfing his body in it.

"Nice." Kid Flash commented, grinning at his friend.

"Well, Speedy, what do you say?" Robin asked, picking up the conversation where we left off. Speedy stopped and looked at him.

"Don't think so." He responded with that harsh, stubborn tone of his.

"Oh c'mon Speedy, why not?" Kid Flash asked. The archer scoffed and turned his head towards the speedster.

"Because, I'm not going to sit around and just be a puppet for the Justice League, especially Green Arrow." He said that last bit with some spite.

"But, Green Arrow is your mentor…" I started but was cut off when Speedy's head whipped over to me and even though I couldn't see his eyes behind his mask, I knew he was giving me one cruel glare.

"He's _not_ my mentor anymore, Tempest." He growled, making me take a step back. Even though I have the power over fire, I really do believe Speedy has a worse temper than I do.

Without another word, Speedy walked off, disappearing into the shadows of the night. I sighed. How did I come to not only be best friends with but actually fall for a guy as stubborn as him?

_Because you find that attractive_. The voice in my head said. I felt my eye twitch a little and ignored the voice.

"This sucks…" Kid Flash said, kicking the ground beneath his feet.

"Well, there's nothing we can do." Robin said.

"He's made his decision and we need to respect that." Aqualad said as we all headed back to the nearest zeta tube and headed back to Mount Justice. Well, at least I did anyway. Mount Justice was my new home, along with Miss Martian and Superboy but the other members had their other homes to live in.

The next day, I got up, dressed and made breakfast for myself. It wasn't long after that Aqualad, Kid Flash and Robin came into the lobby via zeta tube. I cleaned up after my breakfast and went over to them.

"What's up, guys?" I asked them.

"We're trying to see if perhaps Red Tornado might have something for us to do." Aqualad answered, looking at the digital computer screen that floated in front of him. He traced Red Tornado's position, who was closing in fast on Mount Justice. We met him outside.

"Is there a specific reason why you have called me here?" He asked once he landed.

"We were hoping that maybe…you had an assignment for us?" Aqualad asked with hope in his voice. Sadly, the robot denied us one.

"It's been over a week! Why haven't we gotten a mission yet?" Kid Flash complained as we walked back into the cave and stopped in the lobby.

"I'm getting a little stir crazy myself." I said, putting my hands on my hips. Aqualad sighed.

"I suppose…we need to continue to be patient." He said. Then, a peculiar odor came to my senses. I sniffed the air a few times, as did the others.

"Is that….smoke I smell?" Superboy asked, looking around cautiously. I smelt it too but then, Miss Martian gasped and flew towards the kitchen. We all followed her to find out that the smoke had come from the oven. She opened it with her powers and laid a tray of burnt cookies on the kitchen counter.

"…Recipe go bad?" I said, sarcastically as I stared at the charcoaled mess on the cookie platter. Miss Martian looked slightly disappointed at her failed attempt to make cookies. Although, that didn't stop Kid Flash from eating them. I swear, that boy will eat anything!

"Here, I can help you make a new batch." I said, grabbing a bowl to mix the cookie mix in. The green martian smiled at me.

"Thank you, Tempest." She said.

"Now that we're off duty, you can call me by my real name. It's Amber." I said.

"I'm Kaldur'ahm but, you can call me Kaldur for short." Aqualad said, politely.

"Name's Wally, beautiful." Kid Flash said, winking at the martian. Robin elbowed him.

"Sorry, not allowed to give my real name out." He said. Miss Martian smiled.

"I'm M'gann M'orzz. But, you can also call me Megan. I decided to pick that as my Earth name." She explained. Then, she glanced at Superboy and smiled at him. A moment later, however, Superboy shouted at her.

"M'gann, what did…?" I started but then, she began talking to me in my brain.

_Did I do something wrong? I mean, the people of Mars always talk to each other mentally._ She said in my head and apparently, the others' heads too because I could sense a feeling of discomfort from the group.

"M'gann, you can't be doing that. The people of Earth take their privacy very seriously and if you invade their minds, it's very offensive." Kaldur explained to her to which she cast her eyes to the floor, obviously feeling sorry. I went over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright, M'gann, you're new to Earth. You'll learn our ways." I said, giving her a comforting smile. She responded with a smile of her own.

"Now boys, out! M'gann and I have some baking to do." I said, scooting the boys out of the kitchen. They left without a word and M'gann and I began to bake a fresh batch of cookies.

"What kind should we make?" She asked me.

"Chocolate chip."

"Sounds good to me!"

And we spent the next hour or so, laughing and baking together. Even though M'gann was a little…peppy, she still is a good person all around. It was good to have another girl on the team because well, I was really the only girl "sidekick" for the longest time. I hope we get more female teammates down the road.

Anyway, once we were done, we got the boys back into the kitchen and began eating cookies, laughing and joking for the next few hours. The cookies were delicious and I was really beginning to see this place as home. Well, my second home.

Speaking of which…

"Hey guys, I'm gonna head home for the night, alright?" I said, grabbing my jacket and putting it on.

"Alright, see you later, Amber!" Wally called to me, waving. I waved back and the rest bid me farewell before I went to the zeta tube and zapped myself back to Star City. I walked out of the broken down payphone and, before stepping out onto the streets, put my outfit back on. I decided to do some patrolling before heading home so I jumped up onto a nearby fire escape in the alley I was in and made my way to the rooftop.

I gazed at the city from the rooftop I stood on. It was a pretty decent sized city but nowhere near as big as San Francisco. Still, this is the city that I've called home, even though it wasn't the city I was born in.

"Tempest?" My thoughts were interrupted when I heard my name. I turned around and saw a silhouette in the darkness. The person stepped out to reveal himself…it was Speedy.

"Hey Speedy." I greeted as he walked over to me.

"What are you doing here?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Umm….I kinda _live_ in this city." I said, almost laughing at his pointless question. He knew I lived here. I mean, how couldn't he? Our mentors have been good friends and partners for missions for years!

He rolled his eyes at me. "I mean, why are you here and not with your _team_?" He said the word with a certain disapproval, one that I didn't like much.

"Alright, 1…" I put up my index finger. "I decided to come home tonight and patrol and 2," I put my middle finger up next to my index finger. "Don't talk about the team like that. They're your friends too, you know." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"I know that."

"Then why are you acting like you hate us?"

"I don't hate you guys."

"Then quit it with the attitude."

"What are you? My mother?" He spat at me. This time, I rolled my eyes at him. This was our relationship. We'd bicker like brother and sister but deep down, we cared for one another.

I sighed at him and gave him a playful shove. "You are truly a stubborn ass, you know that, right?" I said to him. He just shrugged at me and walked past me to gaze at the streets below. Silence followed but I didn't let it linger too long.

"But really, Speedy, I think you should join the team. I know you're mad about everything that happened…" I began but was cut off.

"No."

"But, can't you give the team…"

"No."

I frowned. "Why are you so damn stubborn?"

"Why are you so damn annoying?" He shot back. I felt my eyebrow twitch and put my hands on my hips. I didn't take what he said to heart, really, because I knew he didn't mean it. It was just our normal argument.

"I guess I'll patrol by myself then." I said, turning on my heel and walking away from him. But, a second later, I heard footsteps following me and he came alongside me. I glared playfully at him.

"Who said you could come along?" I grinned. Again, he rolled his eyes.

"Please. You like having me as your company." He retorted, giving me a small smirk of his own. I had nothing to say to that since it was, definitely, the truth. Having Roy around gave me butterflies but it also gave me a sense of comfort, a very safe feeling. We protect each other, even though Roy claims he doesn't need protection.

Male egos.

For the next few hours, Roy and I guarded the city, taking down any petty criminals that were out that night. By the time midnight rolled around, I decided to call it a night.

"Alright well, I'm going to head home. Thanks for the fun night." I said, grinning at the archer as he merely gave me a nod in return. I turned to leave but then, turned back around to face him.

"Hey Speedy?"

"Yeah?"

I paused. "Just…look after yourself, okay?" Hey, it did worry me that he was on his own. Any friend would be concerned! It's not that I thought he was weak or couldn't handle himself or anything. It was just…I was worried. That's normal, right?

The redhead chuckled at me. "No need to worry about me, Tempest. I can take care of myself." He reassured me with a slight smug tone. And there's his ego again.

"Alright. See you around then." I said, turning my back to him and racing off toward home. When I got there, I crept inside because I didn't want to wake my mother if she was asleep.

I got into my bedroom and quickly changed my clothes to my comfortable pajamas. I lay down on my bed and it didn't take me long for me to fall asleep.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>- So there we go, you see a little more of Tempest aka Amber's character. Also, a little time with Roy doesn't hurt, now, does it? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review!


	4. Fangs of a False God

**Disclaimer**- I do not own anything of Young Justice.

**From Author**- Sorry about the wait, you guys. One note I wanted to make that, for some reason, I didn't catch until after I posted up the previous chapter. I had written that Tempest's new home was the Cave, when in reality, she actually does have a home in Star City with Andromeda. Sorry about that confusion there, you guys. I was being oblivious there.

Also, another note I want to tell you all. It's important so please read this. Due to the fact that I will be going away to college in a few months, I'm going to end this story with only one season of the show tied in. Which I guess is a smart decision for me to make since I _hated_ how they ended season one! And what's the deal with Roy…it's just….ugh! So, "season one" aka the end of this story will end not with the tragic story of Roy but more so what happens with Amber.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

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><p>The next day, Batman called us into the lobby to discuss a mission in Santa Prisca. Apparently, there was some type of drug called "Venom" being made in the factory on the island. Yet, for some odd reason, there haven't been shipments in a while.<p>

Batman reminded us that all we needed to do was sneak around and find out what's up, hence the term "recon." There will be two drop zones getting onto the island since I'm sure there is going to be some high security there and we needed someone to deactivate it before we land.

Anyway, once we suited up, we all piled into the bio-ship and headed for the island in the Caribbean Sea.

It didn't take us long with the bio-ship's speed to get to the island. Aqualad stood from his seat, activated the stealth gear button on his outfit, which turned his shirt into a dark blue color, and dove into the sea below us. His job was to deactivate any of the security features that were on that part of the island so we wouldn't be detected.

M'gann put the ship into camouflage mode and after getting the okay from Aqualad, moved into a spot in the jungle to deploy drop zone B. But first, we had to activate our own stealth gear. Robin didn't need anything because his outfit was already made of dark colors, Superboy refused to since he was just…stubborn. Kid Flash's outfit turned into black once he hit the button on his outfit. Miss Martian morphed her outfit so now it was black and red instead of white and red. Me, the only changes that were made was the small colors of red that were in the flame design of my outfit were now the full color of my flames, instead of it being a mix of red and orange.

Anyway, we zip-lined down using the bio-ship's strings that Miss Martian morphed from the ship and we landed gracefully on the ground. Except for Superboy, who decided to literally crash-land himself.

"Could you be any louder, Superboy?" I spat at him. He glared at me. Seems the others felt a fight coming on because Kid Flash came between us.

"No time to fight, guys." He said.

"KF's right, we need to meet up with Aqualad and search the island for what we came here for." Robin added. Superboy and I glared at each other one more time before making our way through the jungle with the rest of the team.

As quietly as possible, we walked through the jungle, passed a beautiful waterfall and back into a bunch of trees. The factory had to be around here somewhere…

"Hang on, I heard something." Superboy said, suddenly and we all stopped. I didn't hear anything. Course, I don't have super hearing like he did.

"Okay, what should we….umm…where's Robin?" I asked, turning to the others to notice the Boy Wonder was gone. The others turned as well to see for themselves.

"Damn, he ran off." Kid Flash muttered.

"But, wasn't he just here?" Miss Martian asked, confused. I sighed.

"He does that a lot." I said and then, heard Aqualad speak to us over the intercom communicators in our ears.

"Superboy, Kid Flash, use your infer-red to see if there are anybody nearby." He said. Kid Flash pulled his goggles over his eyes and began searching the woods nearby with them. Superboy just merely gazed into the opposite area, searching.

"I got a squad over here." Kid Flash informed us.

"Another one on my side." Superboy added. Suddenly, we heard gunshots, most likely from the two squads. I thought those guys were on the same side but I guess not.

"Go around them and don't let yourself be detected!" Aqualad ordered through the comm. Kid Flash ran ahead, saying something about finding Robin.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" I muttered, while the three of us followed after the speedster.

Then, disaster.

Kid Flash tripped and fell down the hill right in the line of fire between the two gangs. He managed to evade the bullets but, he needed help. Superboy charged ahead and went after a very muscular guy with a mask on, who seemed to be the leader of one of the groups. The other group was covered in red cloaks. I went after those guys, using my fire to melt the bullets as they were being shot at me.

"Are you guys _stupid_ or something? Why didn't you do what I did?" Robin asked, jumping down from one of the trees and helping me take down the robed goons. I blocked a punch from one of the guys and round house kicked him to the face, knocking him out cold.

"And what exactly _were_ you doing? Ditching us?" I shot back at him as the others joined the fight, taking down both gangs. No more words were exchanged until every one of the guys were knocked out and tied up.

"I know these uniforms. These guys are followers of a man named Kobra." Robin informed us as we all stood together to ponder what's going on.

"It seems Batman and the League didn't know these dangerous men were here, otherwise, they probably wouldn't have sent us on this mission in the first place." Aqualad said.

"That's most likely the case. But, these cultists and those other guys didn't seem very friendly towards each other." I pointed out.

"The cultists probably came in here to take over the place but the other guys wouldn't let them." Aqualad said.

"That's most likely why there haven't been many shipments lately." Robin said.

"So, Kobra wanted this Venom to make super-human cultists. Seems we did our duty here so let's call Batman and…" Kid Flash started but was cut off by Robin.

"No, I don't think the cultists have the Venom in their bloodstream. I think someone's hording them. I'm staying to find out why." He said. Kid Flash looked at him skeptically.

"Since when are you sounding like you're running this operation, Rob?" He asked. Robin looked up at him.

"Well, this team _does_ need a leader." He said, a little smugly. I rolled my eyes.

"And you think you're it? You ditched us earlier so how do you expect to lead a team who can't follow you because they don't know what the hell you're thinking!" The red head exclaimed. I sighed.

"Any of you guys want to lead?" Miss Martian asked me and Superboy but we both shook our heads. Superboy looked at me a bit shocked when he saw I declined the offer.

"Tempest, you're the oldest of us. Shouldn't you lead?" He asked. Again, I shook my head.

"I may be the oldest but talk to KF, Robin and Aqualad and they'd tell you that my temper can get the best of me sometimes and I know that's not a good feature to have in a leader." I explained and the others nodded. Then, I started to hear some people whispering but at first, I thought I was just hearing things because KF's and Robin's arguing was overpowering the whispering. Then, the man in the mask began to laugh.

"Well, ninos, this is a sight I don't see every day. But, there is no need to quarrel, I can give you the answers you seek. I have a secret entrance into the factory not too far from here." The man said, smiling up at us. The smile seemed….off, though.

Miss Martian knelt by him and tried to read his mind to find anything useful but apparently this guy, Bane, he called himself, has come across a telepath before and knew how to keep the truth from her. Still, we _did_ need a way into the factory so, we took the chance and let him go.

He led us to a cliff looking over the factory a good few hundred feet below us. Robin used his special binoculars to zoom in and scan the area down there to see what was going on. He saw a lot of the Venom product being moved around for someone…we just didn't know who.

"This way." Bane told us as he moved a giant boulder to a secret cavern. We followed him through it until we came to a door. Bane opened it and it lead to another door which opened up to reveal the factory. Robin went on ahead before anyone could stop him and…again, he disappeared. Then, Kid Flash ran off to go find him, despite Aqualad's protests.

So the five of us snuck behind a few crates outside the factory to get a closer look at what the cultists were doing with the product.

"Why are they only taking that Venom instead of this one?" I whispered, indicating to the crates we were hiding behind, which were full of the Venom drug.

"I don't know, but we need to…" Aqualad started but Superboy interrupted him.

"Hang on, I hear a helicopter." He said and we all stayed quiet and sure enough, a helicopter came and landed not too far away from where the cultists were moving and packing up the Venom.

Not wanting to risk getting detected, we all headed back to a higher vantage point on one of the stairwells above the ground floor. Miss Martian went into camouflage mode and flew over to see the person who was coming out of the helicopter. He was most likely the buyer and we needed to find that out.

"It's Sportsmaster." Aqualad confirmed after receiving the word from Miss Martian. Then, he tried contacting Robin, Kid Flash and Red Tornado but no luck, apparently, our communication link is now offline. Peachy.

"Okay, now what?" Superboy asked. Bane smiled and suddenly, leapt over the stairwell and onto the ground floor, tackling a few cultists. We all stared in shock at what he was doing. He just gave away our position!

Suddenly, a roar was heard and this giant…thing burst through the wall and practically tackled us all but we moved out of the way just in time. Then, a bunch more of the cultists came in, holding guns and began shooting at us. Superboy took on the giant monster thing while Aqualad and I fended off against the bullets. I put up a fire shield to protect myself. When I saw an opening, I threw a few fireballs at the cultists. I incapacitated two of them but before I could shield myself again, a bullet flew past my arm but still ended up shredding the skin and causing me to bleed.

"Ah!" I clutched my arm, trying to stop the bleeding when suddenly, I felt myself being picked up by someone fast. I looked to see that it was Kid Flash and he brought me behind a giant tank to avoid being shot again.

Miss Martian and Robin joined in the fight, knocking out cultist after cultist. But then, I heard an explosion and Miss Martian scream, she must've been hit by something.

I turned when I heard the clicking of guns and saw three cultists pointing their guns at me. Ignoring the pain in my arm, I shot a giant line of fire at them, causing their guns to explode in their faces, knocking them out. But, the action caused a searing pain to go through my arm once again. I tore off a piece of my skirt and wrapped my arm as best I could, tying it tightly to stop the bleeding.

_Tempest, you there?_ I heard Miss Martian speak to me in my mind. I took a moment to catch my breath before answering.

_Yeah, I'm here._ I answered, attacking a few more goons that came my way.

_We need to get out of here. KF, clear a path to the exit._ Aqualad ordered and the speedster did what he was told. We all ran for the exit but the cultists, and the giant monster thing, were right behind us. Aqualad ordered Superboy to take out the support beams to cause a rock blockage so they wouldn't get to us.

"Tempest, some light, please?" Aqualad asked once we were in the clear. I held out my right hand and created a fire, big enough to emit light throughout the area we were standing in. Suddenly, the topic of leadership came up.

"You've been with Batman for so long that you two don't need to communicate. You already know each other's thoughts and moves. But this team is different. We can't just go running off without informing anyone." Aqualad said to the Boy Wonder. He was silent for a moment then spoke up.

"Well then, what about you, Kaldur? I think you should lead us." He offered. I looked at everyone else and they all seemed to agree on this decision. Sure, I may be the oldest but Kaldur is the most mature, level-headed and trustworthy person here. He definitely deserved to be leader.

So with that problem out of the way, we moved onto stopping that shipment from leaving the island with Sportsmaster. Although, once we got out of the cavern, we hit a roadblock.

A roadblock by the name of Bane.

"Don't move, or I press this button and you all go boom." He said, sadistically, smirking at us. I knew it. I knew we shouldn't have trusted him.

_Kid…_Aqualad muttered to the speedster telepathically and I saw the redhead backing up, getting ready to run. We kept Bane busy by talking with him and making sure he kept talking, then, KF ran past him, snagging the trigger to the explosives. Then, Superboy and Miss Martian took down Bane and we tied him up, moving on with our mission.

We made our way back to the factory and began taking down the cultists that surrounded the area. Aqualad and Superboy worked together to take down that mammoth sized creature. Miss Martian, in camouflage mode, planted the explosives Bane was about to use on us onto the helicopter. When Sportsmaster was trying to fly away, the green martian clicked the trigger, imploding the helicopter and causing it to crash into the factory, destroying it.

Robin and I were busy fighting Kobra himself when we had to move out of the way to not get hit by the debris from the building. I used my powers to calm the smoke so that its poisonous fumes wouldn't make its way over to the rest of the team.

When I made sure the fire wouldn't spread anymore, I turned to see that Kobra had escaped. But, at least we stopped the shipments from leaving the island.

Although, when we got back to Mount Justice to report, Batman didn't seem all that thrilled at us. He began to scold us about how we didn't stick to the "covert" part of the mission. But then, he congratulated us, which caught us all by surprise. According to him, he knows that missions never go as planned and overall, he was happy with the results.

Good thing too, I was beginning to sweat.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>- Eh, wasn't sure how to end this chapter but hey, don't hate me. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please review!


	5. Diffidentia Intra

**Disclaimer****- I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

**From Author****- Okay first off, major apologies! I know I haven't updated this story in literally months but, I lost interest in it for awhile but, now, it's come back! So, I hope you guys will all still read and review with this story. I'll try to get as many chapters out as possible but with school coming up at the end of the month…it'll be tricky. But, I will try! **

**And one more note before I move onto the chapter. I am NOT making Roy a Cadmus clone! Yes, that's right, he is the real deal! Because, like I said in previous chapters, I'm ending this story with the end of season one. But, don't worry, I've figured out a way to fill in the gaps there so it should still be entertaining and satisfactory for all you fans!**

**So, without further ado, I give you chapter five!**

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><p>It's been about a week and a half since the Santa Prisca mission and I was starting to see that Batman began trusting us more and more with these missions. Granted, we haven't had a mission quite yet but still, I just had this strange feeling that after the last mission, things are going to be different.<p>

It was nice now that I could be closer to my year's long friends (excluding Roy). Kaldur was becoming like a big brother to me, and I say big brother because when it comes to maturity, he's older than me. Wally makes me laugh all the time and Robin is just…well, Robin.

M'gann and I have gotten closer too. As the only two girls on the team, we had to stick together, right? Whenever she had questions about Earthly ways, she'd always come to me and talk about it and I was more than happy to help her.

Superboy was a different story, however. No one really knows what goes through his mind half the time but, he's still a member of this team and I respect him as a teammate. I just wish he'd lighten up a bit and let people in but hey, this team is still new, we're still getting used to each other so I'm sure eventually, he'll open up to us.

Speaking of Superboy….

The zeta beams spoke Superboy's code and a second later, he appeared in the doorway to the Cave. He had gone to Metropolis for the day, not quite sure why, though. But, when one of us asked how his trip was, he ignored us completely and began walking off down one of the halls. But, before he could get far, he, as well as the rest of us acknowledged the two new people who presented themselves to us as they walked into the room.

"Hello Black Canary and Uncle J'onn." M'gann said as she walked over and hugged her uncle, who gladly returned it. Then, Black Canary stepped up into the middle of the room and the combat sequence activated, illuminating the ground around her in a white light.

"Hand-to-hand combat is a very important part of being a hero. Sure, you may have superpowers that give you advantages over others but what happens if you cannot use those powers? Then, you'd have nothing. I am here to teach you all that I know. So, who would like to be my sparring partner first?" She said, gazing at all of us. Wally immediately stepped up, grinning widely. I rolled my eyes. This was just going to be another attempt (most likely one that will fail) at flirting.

And, sure enough, when the two began sparring, Black Canary took the speedster down without even breaking a sweat. I couldn't help but laugh a little alongside Robin, even though Kaldur gave us a slight glare. Hey, c'mon, Wally had that coming!

But, I had to stop laughing because what happened next was very interesting. Superboy scoffed at the idea of this kind of training, claiming he didn't need it because he is a "living weapon." Black Canary challenged him and I was anxious to see how this would go down. Though, I kinda already knew but I also knew that Superboy wouldn't take it well.

And I swear he was going to storm off afterwards, that is, if Batman didn't pick the time to communicate with us via the holographic screen that appeared. He informed us about this new robot that could somehow study and adapt to the battle and, eventually, use the same powers of the League against them.

"So, this robot, who created it?" Robin asked Batman.

"We thought, at first, it was T. O. Morrow but once Red Tornado studied it, we pushed that theory aside. Yet, this robot had similar signatures on it of that of Professor Ivo's creations." He answered, making us all stand there in shock for a moment. We had thought Ivo was dead but, perhaps he isn't.

"We had dismembered the robot and now are planning on sending the parts to two separate locations. They'll be transported in two trucks. However, we'll have four other trucks acting as a decoy, just in case." Batman informed us. We didn't need any more information to know what he wanted. We headed out to where the trucks would start their journey with our new motorcycles to ride on and follow with.

When the trucks were ready, they headed out and so did we. Wally, M'gann and Kaldur followed one truck while Robin, Superboy and I followed the second truck. The whole time we were riding, I could practically _feel_ the anger coming off of Superboy. I kept my distance but, as a teammate, I wanted to try and help.

"Hey Superboy, what's up?" I asked, coming alongside him on his left. He glanced at me and then narrowed his eyes at, nothing in particular, really.

"Why is Black Canary trying to teach _me_ combat tactics?" He growled. Robin rode up alongside him on the other side, hearing the conversation and deciding to come in.

"It's like she said, we can't just go into a mission depending on only our superpowers. We need to have something else to help defend ourselves." He answered to which I nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, these green and black colored robotic monkeys flew out of the grass beside the road and attached themselves onto the truck, trying to break into it. Aqualad informed us that their truck was under attack as well and we made no hesitation to attack.

Superboy leapt off his bike, causing it to nearly crash into both mine and Robin's but we moved out of the way in time. Robin zip lined onto the truck while I rode alongside the truck and then jumped off the bike, latching onto the truck and blasting monkeys off of it with my fireballs. A few times, due to the bad position I was in, I nearly fell off but Robin lent me a hand and helped pull me up onto the top of the truck where we continued to knock off monkey after monkey.

Superboy was knocked off the truck by the monkeys which left me and Robin to deal with them. We kept taking down more monkeys but they were like a swarm of locusts, there was no end to them! Finally, Superboy jumped back onto the truck and continued to help us. But then, one of the monkeys must've blasted the tires on the truck because it began to sway dangerously. Robin went over and grabbed the driver, leaping off the truck and onto the grass and cornfields alongside the road. I held onto the truck as best I could but then, Superboy grabbed me and leapt off the truck, the both of us rolling end over end onto the pavement. Thank God for these motorcycle outfits. Still, they didn't break the fall all _that_ great, it still hurt.

When I looked back up, I saw the monkeys carrying the box that had the robot's parts in it and flying away. I was about to ask Superboy if he was alright but, he began going after the monkeys, leaping great lengths to catch up with them. I staggered to my feet, making sure nothing was broken.

"You alright, Tempest?" Robin asked, walking over to me after he laid the injured driver on the ground. I stretched a little, feeling a few of my stiff muscles crack slightly.

"Yeah, I'm alright. But not only did we lose the cargo but our teammate as well." I said, gazing behind Robin where Superboy ran off. The boy wonder sighed.

"Yeah I know but I have a weird feeling. How did these monkeys know that our two trucks were the ones that held the parts?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Beats me." I responded. Then, Robin went over to one of the fallen monkeys and attached his cord to the back of one of them, scanning it. Again, it never ceases to amaze me how he does this stuff.

"Aqualad, you there?" Robin asked through the comm link. Aqualad responded.

"Okay, it looks like these things were able to track the signal from the robot. And it looks like they're headed….to Gotham City." Robin said.

"That's quite a trek. Okay, I'm sending Kid Flash over to help you. The three of you head to Gotham City and find that robot before it gets put back together." Aqualad ordered.

"Roger that, Aqualad." I said and recovered my bike a few yards down the road while Robin did the same. We got back on our bikes but didn't leave just yet.

"I'll be right back." Robin said, grabbing some clothes from a compartment in the bike and heading into the cornfield. I smiled. Looks like he wanted to change too. I might as well do the same. I opened up my compartment and began changing real quickly.

"You decent, Temp?" Robin called from the cornfield. I closed the compartment after putting my motorcycle outfit in there and sat on the bike.

"Yeah, c'mon out." I said and Robin reappeared, putting the clothes away and then hopping on the bike. We both then sped off for Gotham. When we were right outside the city, Kid Flash ran alongside us, also changed back into his normal outfit.

"Any change on where the parts are headed?" I asked Robin. He looked down at his tracker on the bike and frowned.

"They're heading towards Gotham Academy." He replied and sped off for there, closely followed by both me and KF.

When we got there, all we heard were crashes coming from inside the gymnasium. We entered the gym to find the android, now reassembled, standing over Superboy. He was about to hit Superboy but then, KF ran over and grabbed Superboy out of harm's way. Robin threw a couple explosive discs but then, the robot used Martian Manhunter's ability to let it pass right through him. Then, it used Red Tornado's ability to cause a giant gust of wind, separating us throughout the gym and knocking us into the wall.

I stood up and began throwing fireballs at it. Once the smoke cleared from all the fire, the robot was still standing there, undamaged.

"Access, Black Canary." It said and then opened its mouth. A shriek so high pitched that I swear would leave my ears bleeding came right at me, knocking me back as I held my hands over my ears. Dear God that hurt.

The others tried to get a hit on it but it kept using the League's abilities to stop them. Then, when KF tried running over to it, it grabbed him, and using Superman's strength, began crushing the redhead.

"KF!" I cried, getting up to help my teammate but then, I saw an arrow heading towards the robot's head. The thing saw it and used Martian Manhunter's ability to let it pass through him and dropped the speedster, who ran off once he was free. I ran over and cracked my fire whips at the robot but it flipped me, sending me flying across the room.

"You brats are nothing compared to your mentors." A voice called out. I looked up in the stands and noticed a man sitting there with two of those monkeys next to him. I was so focused on the battle that I didn't even notice him. It was Ivo.

"I'll show you brat!" Superboy cried and went after Ivo. Ivo gasped and the monkeys moved him out of the way before he would get hit. It took me a minute but I realized what Superboy was trying to do.

"Yo, Ivo! Would you take offense if I fried your ass?" I called, making my fire whips again and cracking them at him. He screamed in terror and the monkeys again moved him out of the way. Then, I got hit with Captain Atom's blast, compliments of Ivo's android. Then, the boys managed to, somehow, make the android's head explode. I have no idea how, I didn't see it.

The next day, we reported back to Batman. The robot was separated again and was where we intended them to be. Also, Ivo escaped in that fight back at the gymnasium. And that arrow that saved KF, we thought it was Green Arrow's but, he showed it wasn't his. We all thought it was Speedy's arrow, thinking he has our backs. I smiled at the thought. I knew he cared even though he was too stubborn to admit it.

About four days later, we were all called into the Cave's main lobby to discuss about something. When we all got there, we realized it wasn't some_thing_, it was some_one. _A girl stood next to Green Arrow, looking about fifteen or sixteen with long, blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She wore a green belly shirt, green pants, and a green mask over her face and combat boots. She held a green bow in her hand and had a quiver on her back filled with arrows.

"Batman, who is this?" Kid Flash asked but the girl answered for him.

"Artemis." She responded. Artemis? After the god huh? Interesting.

"She is your new teammate." Green Arrow explained. In other words, he was saying introduce yourselves. And we did, going down the line and saying who was who.

"Wait a second, Green Arrow, if Artemis is your protégé, then what happened to Speedy?" Robin asked. Just then, the zeta beams opened up and a second later, Roy stood there and it took all of the self-control within me to not drool a freaking river. He had changed his outfit. It was now red and black, sleeveless, which showed off his amazing arms (I'm an arm girl, okay?), and his bow was now more black than red. He looked damn good!

"Don't call me Speedy anymore. I changed it to Red Arrow." He said a bit harshly. I snapped out of my trance to make sure no one caught me staring. Green Arrow stepped up.

"You're looking well, Roy." He complimented. The redhead snorted at him.

"Don't give me any of that. You don't seem to care all that much about me, considering you've replaced me so quickly." He responded, now narrowing his eyes at the blonde girl who glared back. You could cut the tension with a knife.

"Why did you really come to us?" Aqualad asked, stepping up, also sensing the tension and wanting to quickly change the subject. Thank you, Aqualad. Roy then began explaining about a woman he had just saved from the League of Shadows named Dr. Serling Roquette. She had invented something called the Fog which is able to infiltrate anything and steal information, which cleared the question as to why the Shadows wanted her. She had already finished it by the time Roy saved her.

Our mission? To protect her.

So we headed over to the high school where Speedy….I mean, Red Arrow had kept her for the time being so she could set up a virus to kill the Fog. The entire time, there was bickering between Kid Flash and Artemis, which, when you have Miss Martian put a telepathic link and hear this in your head for about an hour, it really starts to get to you.

_If you two don't shut up, I will tie you both down, make you kiss and then burn your asses!_ I hissed in my head to the two of them. They finally shut up….for the time being anyway.

Roquette began tracking the Fog so some of us could go after the people holding it and stop them from stealing too much information. Problem was, the Shadows would be able to find out where Roquette is as well with the tracking system she was using.

When she did track it, Robin and Superboy went off in the bioship to track the Shadows down. I stayed inside with Kid Flash and Aqualad while Artemis and Miss Martian were outside guarding the entrance. I watched the door where the doctor was working while Aqualad stood over her.

Suddenly, I heard some noises and decided to go investigate. I walked around a corner but saw nothing. I turned on my heel to head back when suddenly, someone jumped down from one of the ventilation shafts and tackled me. I kicked the person off and threw a fireball at them. They dodged and I got back up on my feet. The assassin was wearing green and black and had a very grotesque and creepy mask on of what looked like to be a cat grinning. She had black hair and had small melee weapons in her hands. I made some fire daggers and went after her with them. She easily dodged slice after slice and countered but I ducked and rolled, kicking her legs out from underneath her.

_An assassin is here outside the computer lab! _I shouted in my mind to the others.

_Be right there!_ Artemis shouted back to me. I continued to fend off the assassin but she hit some pressure points on my body, causing me to go limp long enough for her to round house kick me to the face, knocking me on my back. I blacked out for a moment but then got up and headed towards the computer lab. I kicked open the door to see the assassin surrounded by the others. She then threw a few smoke bombs on the ground, using that advantage to disappear.

Once we all caught our breath for a moment, we moved to a different location. Aqualad wanted me inside with Kid Flash and Artemis to make sure they didn't kill each other (because I swear, they were about to). And, it didn't take long for the Shadows to reappear. Except, that one female assassin came back with backup. Kid Flash went after one of them that was able to spring webs from his hands while Artemis and I took care of a guy with a giant metal hook for a right hand.

"Keep working!" Artemis ordered the doctor. She turned back to the screen but before she could really do anything, that female assassin jumped her. But then, Miss Martian revealed herself to be Roquette, making the Shadows realize they've been played. The female assassin ran off to find Roquette, closely followed by Artemis while the rest of us dealt with the other two Shadows.

It took us a little while but we finally managed to knock out the assassins and tie them up. As soon as that was done, we headed over to the internet café where the others were protecting Roquette. The female cat assassin got away, according to Artemis but still, Aqualad informed us that the doctor was able to get the virus completed and Robin destroyed the Fog with it. Artemis seemed a little disappointed in herself that the assassin got away from her but M'gann and I cheered her up.

"Don't sweat it, Artemis. You did great for your first mission." I said, smiling at her. She gave me a smile back and we all headed back after dropping the doctor off somewhere safe.

I flopped on my bed once I got home, exhausted from today's mission. I was just starting to feel myself drift off to sleep when I suddenly heard a little chime come from my cell phone, indicating I got a text message. I grabbed it and checked it. It was from Roy and it was only a two word message:

_Vigilate tuum._

I recognized the language he had written. It was Latin. I had learned Latin years ago from….certain people but once I became a superhero, I lost all memory of the language. Then, when I learned Atlantean's native tongue was Latin, Kaldur refreshed my memory and taught me some more. I, in turn, taught Roy some Latin and it looks like he hasn't completely forgotten it. It was sort of our thing to send each other messages in Latin if we didn't want others to know what we were saying. The phrase translated would be:

_Watch your back_.

I blinked a few times at the message. Was he talking about Artemis? Or someone else? Either way, I shrugged it off, sent him a message in return to let him know everything was fine then turned the phone off so I could get some rest. Though, his text message kept lingering in my mind until I finally fell asleep.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>**- So this was a longer chapter! Alright! I know this one didn't have much Roy in it or whatever, it mainly dealt with the mission part of the story but don't worry, you'll get more RoyxAmber fluff. Next chapter is big because we get to see more of the plot with Amber coming in.**

**Also, I know it's been awhile since I've taken Latin but I believe I got the translation right for that phrase "watch your back." If not, please inform me. Also, the title of this chapter is, again, Latin and it means "distrust within." Figured you guys wanted to know that.**

**Anyway, I hope there are still some fans out there that will review to this even though it's been forever! Pretty please? **


	6. The Beginning of the Truth

**Disclaimer****- I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

**From Author****- Thank you to those who reviewed! I'm glad to see even after months, there are still some loyal fans that would, not only read, but also review so thank you! And I hope to hear more from people. **

**Now, because I'm leaving for school in two weeks, and have quite a bit of time on my hands, I will do my best to update ASAP. So, you guys might be seeing updates either every day or every other day. I don't know if I'll actually finish the story by the time I leave but, I will do my best to get as many chapters out as I can!**

**And, also, sorry there wasn't much Roy in the previous chapter but, I'll try to bring him in, even slightly. But, like I said in the previous chapter, this one starts the plot with Tempest and everything. You'll understand what I mean once you read. So, enjoy!**

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><p>After that text message that Roy sent me the other night when I got back from the mission, he hasn't responded to me. He never responded to my text message and he hasn't contacted me at all since then…and that was almost two weeks ago.<p>

I think I might give him a call later.

But, at the moment, the rest of us, excluding Robin who was with Batman, were watching Superboy and Kaldur spar in combat practice. Superboy had his shirt off and I swear, I saw both M'gann and Artemis staring at him mainly instead of actually watching the fight.

Once the practice was done, with Superboy as the winner, Red Tornado appeared via zeta tube. Wally asked if he had a mission for us but, he claimed that he didn't. Still, we pressed.

"But, you must've come here for a reason, right, Tornado?" I asked, stepping up alongside Wally to try and get the android to tell us anything. The robot stayed silent for a moment then turned and activated the holographic computer and a second later, a picture of an elderly man holding a cane popped up.

"This is Kent Nelson but you all might know him as Doctor Fate. He was a member of the Justice Society, the previous group before the Justice League was born. But Kent has been missing for nearly three weeks now and he holds the helmet of Fate. I would like you all to head to the Tower of Fate in Salem and make sure both the helmet and Kent are safe." Red Tornado explained to us and then, handed a key to Kaldur, explaining that was the key to the tower. I heard Wally trying to impress M'gann again with the whole "believing in mystic arts" thing but it sounded so fake to me.

As we piled into the bioship, Artemis began asking Wally just how well he knew about the mystic arts. Wally claimed he wanted to be a magician before becoming the infamous speedster he is today but I rolled my eyes, knowing it was probably another tactic to impress M'gann.

Anyway, when we finally got to Salem, following Red Tornado's directions, we found that where he said the tower would be was actually a big, empty field. We all got out of the bioship and began investigating. Wally ran around the area but came back with nothing. I knelt down and put my hand on the ground, closing my eyes for a moment.

One of my other powers is able to detect body heat from a certain distance away. If there _was_ a tower here, hopefully, I'd be able to sense if there was someone inside that tower. But, as I focused my energy around me, the only body heats I detected were myself and my teammates, nothing else. I stood back up with a sigh.

"Nothing. I can't detect anybody else around here." I said, dusting the grass and dirt off my hands.

"It could possibly be adaptive micro optoelectronics combined with bey-shifting that's going on here." Wally said, using that science protégé know-how to work. I blinked. He lost me at "adaptive." Then, when M'gann walked over to us, Wally quickly changed his mind.

"Or! It could be that mystical arts are the cause of this." He said and I rolled my eyes yet again. I didn't say anything to him, though, since I learned long ago that no matter how many times you say something to that boy, he still doesn't listen. I sighed and turned to Aqualad.

"Why don't you try that key Tornado gave you?" I suggested. Aqualad took it out of his pocket and stepped forward a few feet from us. Then, he held the key up and as if to put it through an actual keyhole to unlock a door, the key clicked and a door as well as the rest of the tower appeared. I had to crane my neck slightly to look up and see just how high it went. It was huge!

We walked inside, after the shock disappeared from us and the door closed on its own behind us and then disappeared altogether. Okay, that's not creepy at all. Inside, we were surrounded by bronze colored brick walls. A moment later, however, a hologram of Kent Nelson appeared.

"Hello. You have entered the Tower of Fate but I'm afraid it can't identify you. Who are you and what reason do you have for being here?" The hologram asked, gazing at all of us. Wally stepped up immediately.

"We are believers in the world of magic and wish to find Doctor Fate to learn more!" He said excitedly with a big grin on his face. The hologram frowned at him and then disappeared.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Superboy muttered as we all stood still for a moment, our guards up.

Just then, the floor gave away underneath us and we all began plummeting into the ground where there was a pit of boiling hot lava at the bottom. Artemis pulled out a crossbow and, after grabbing a hold of Kaldur, shot a zip-line string onto the rock wall around us to stop them from falling. M'gann grabbed onto Wally and stayed levitated above the lava. Superboy latched onto the wall and began sliding down, but he couldn't stop his feet from getting into the pit. He screamed and pulled his feet up, his boots gone. I made a fire hook in my hands and latched the hook onto the rock wall just above Superboy but I knew it wouldn't hold for long.

"We have to think of a way out of here, quick!" Superboy cried from below me.

"Yes…since M'gann and I cannot stand this heat for long…" Kaldur said, wiping sweat off his forehead. I slipped a little but regained my footing.

"And I don't know how long my fire hook will last." I added. M'gann began to slowly fall down towards the lava, sweating profusely.

"Of course! We have to give a better answer to that question." She said and then looked up towards the ceiling where we fell through.

"We came as a favor to Red Tornado to see if Kent Nelson and the helmet of Fate were both safe." She called out. A moment later, a metal door closed off above the boiling pit and we were able to jump down safely. Strangely enough, however, the metal door was cool and not blazing hot like it should be if a lava pit was right underneath it.

"Someone hold me back because I'm about to ring that speedster's neck!" Artemis said, stomping over to Wally and shoving him back with her hand. Wally stumbled slightly but kept his footing.

"What's your problem?" He asked, glaring at the blonde.

"Gee, let's see. For one, you're trying to impress M'gann no matter what the cost and two, because of that you nearly killed us and three, you lied about believing in magic!" The archer shouted at the speedster. I crossed my arms over my chest, looking at him sternly.

"You really did make a bonehead move, Wally, especially for someone who's supposed to be extremely smart with the whole science protégé thing." I commented, backing up Artemis. Wally glared at the both of us.

"So what if I lied? Magic is bogus!" He exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest. Kaldur continued to examine the platform we landed on.

"Bogus? Wally, I studied magic in Atlantis for almost a year and it helps me control my abilities." He pointed out.

"And magic is what saved us right now, along with M'gann's quick thinking." I added, which made the redhead glare more at me.

"Okay for one, Kaldur, that's bioelectricity. And two, it wasn't magic that saved us. There was obviously some key phrase that needed to be said in order to activate some mechanism that would close up this platform here." Wally explained with a stubborn tone. I made an exasperated sound and left it there. Like I said, there was no use talking to this guy. He was too close minded.

"Oh really?" Kaldur said and then, gripped a level on the platform and opened it up. At first, Wally protested, saying the lava would burn us if the Atlantean did that but instead, when the door opened up, snow whipped at our faces. We jumped through the hole to a land like literally looked like Siberia.

"Convinced?" Artemis asked Wally once we began walking again. Don't try it, Artemis, you'll only get more frustrated at him.

"This can be explained. String theory? This is a pocket dimension." Wally said and Artemis made an exasperated sound similar to the one I made. See, like I said, more frustration from the wonderful redheaded speedster.

As we walked a little further, we noticed a cane, the same cane that was in the picture with Kent Nelson, floating a few feet from us. I walked over to examine it but then, both Artemis and Wally grabbed onto it.

"Wait guys, we don't know if…!" I said, grabbing both their arms to try and pry them off but, they couldn't let go of the cane and I couldn't let go of their arms! Then, we were levitated up into the air and zapped away from the Siberian tundra.

When we could see again, we were in some sort of labyrinth filled with staircase after staircase and door after door. It was making my eyes hurt just looking at it.

"Abra Kadabra!" Wally exclaimed, breaking my thoughts and I looked down to see three men standing on a staircase below us. One was Kent Nelson, bound with ropes. The other was a man with black hair tied into a ponytail, a goatee, dressed in a nice white shirt and black pants and carrying some black stick which was most likely his "wand." The other was a guy who looked like he could be a teenager around our age. He wore a suit and had black spiky hair and chilling red eyes. He was carrying a cat in his arms.

Then, the cane glowed and Kent Nelson was able to fly over to us, break the bonds around his hands, and release our grips from the cane. He opened up a door and ushered us inside before Kadabra and the other guy could get to us. Kent had made an elevator so we were heading up the tower, it looked like.

"Ah yes, sorry, forgot my manners. I'm Kent Nelson." Kent said, introducing himself with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Nelson. I'm Amber and this is Artemis and Wally." I introduced the rest of us. Kent's smile widened.

"Well, you three, let me give it to you straight. Abra Kadabra may be a hoax when it comes to magician but Klarion the Witch Boy, the other kid with that annoying cat, is a Lord of Chaos." Kent explained. I raised an eyebrow.

"Lord of Chaos?" I asked. Kent nodded.

"Yes, they are the archrivals of Lords of Order, which is what Doctor Fate is. They're after the helmet and if they get it, Klarion can turn the Earth into nothing but a demonic wasteland." Kent said. Well, he didn't skip on the dramatics. Wally scoffed at this idea but Artemis elbowed him, causing the redhead to glower at her. Then, the elevator dinged and we walked out to a room where there were more staircases and doors but the only difference was a giant golden bell sitting in the middle of it all. Then, another door opened up and Superboy, M'gann and Kaldur fell through. Artemis and I walked over to make sure they were alright but then, suddenly, we were under attack by Klarion and Kadabra.

I stood up and threw fireballs at Kadabra but he moved out of the way and used that annoying wand of his to send shock waves at us. He may be a fake but he was still tough. Then I saw Kent activate the bell and he and Wally stepped through it. I also saw Klarion try going after them but I leapt after him to stop him. I knocked into him, and the force of the push sent us both flying through one of the doors that was there. It opened up to another room filled with staircases and doorways. This place was starting to drive me insane. Klarion smiled at me and put the cat down.

"Playing the hero today, eh?" He asked sarcastically. I glared at him and began throwing fireballs at him. But, he dodged injury by making a fire dome around himself to protect himself and his cat from my attacks. His flames were a darker, crimson red…almost like Hellfire. He threw a few fireballs my way and I rolled out of the way, pressing my hand to the ground and sending a line of fire his way. The fire exploded out of the ground around him like geysers but again, he escaped injury.

Then, he conjured demonic claws and wrapped them around me, grinning widely at me. I struggled in its grip but, eventually, pressed my hands to the claws and began burning it. Klarion yelped slightly and pulled back the claws while I shot a straight line of fire at him. He moved out of the way but the fire still singed his coat slightly. He looked at it, brushed off what was on his arm and then turned back to me. He was holding back, I knew he was, but why?

Not daring to ask that question, I instead charged him with my fists covered in flames and began punching at his face. He dodged them and blocked some of them, and then he twisted my arm and flipped me, sending me flying across the room and hitting a corner of one of the staircases. I growled under my breath. That freaking hurt.

Rubbing my injured arm, I stood up straight and saw Klarion merely smiling at me. Something about it was off…I couldn't quite place it but it was like Klarion knew something but he wasn't saying anything. But, this guy was going down.

Klarion opened up his palms and conjured fire in his hands and began throwing it at me. He continued relentlessly to the point where it was becoming hard to dodge it. Then, he blew fire out of his mouth, like a freaking dragon, and this time, it hit. But, I was at least able to prepare a firewall to shield myself somewhat from the attack.

I felt my arms burning after that defensive move, though.

"Your skills have improved but, they're not quite at their peak, are they, Tempest? Or, should I say…" Next thing I knew, Klarion had his hand around my neck, squeezing tightly and making me cough and gasp for breath.

"…Amber Parkinson?" He finished, smirking at me. My eyes widened.

"How….how do you know who I am?" I gasped. Klarion threw his head back and laughed, squeezing a little bit more, causing me to gag.

"Oh, I know a lot more than that, my pretty." He said and then dropped me harshly to the floor, where I sucked in a deep breath, my lungs relieved that they finally are getting proper air passage. I glared up at him as he opened up a portal, ready to walk through with his cat. He turned to me with a smile.

"But, we'll talk some other time. Ta-ta!" He said, waving sarcastically as his cat hissed at me before the both of them jumped through the portal before I had a chance to do anything.

I stood up after a moment once I gained my breath. I could've fought him. I could've kicked him in the ribs, making him release me and then fried his ass but in his grasp I felt…helpless. I couldn't do anything. Why? What happened?

_Amber, we need your help! _M'gann suddenly called to me mentally. I shook the whole Klarion thing aside and went through the door I fell through before. I found Abra Kadabra standing over my friends, who were incapacitated. I leapt over and was ready to send a big fireball his way but he saw me coming and used that wand of his to shock me and sending me down to the ground. It felt like little needles and bee stings were hitting me all over my body, making me unable to move.

And, for the record, feeling helpless twice in the same day, let alone in ten minutes, is not fun!

I don't know how long this torture went on for but then, somehow, it just stopped. Kadabra's powers were taken from him, as well as most of his clothes, and Superboy knocked him out with one punch. I wasn't too sure what happened but I had a feeling Doctor Fate had something to do with it.

After we tied up Kadabra, Wally informed us that Kent was gone. Sadness hit each of us and we all took a moment to mourn for his passing. But, we knew once the League found out that they would want to give him a proper burial.

After we handed Kadabra over to the police and informed the Justice League about Kent's fate, we headed back to the Cave. Wally kept the helmet but still refused to show any sign of believing in magic. Like I said, close minded.

As for me, well, I couldn't get what Klarion said out of my head. But, I tried to push it aside. It could be nothing but then again, it couldn't. Sighing, I grabbed my phone, trying to ignore the whole Klarion business and called Roy. Maybe I could catch him while he wasn't out doing the hero thing. The phone rang about three times before he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Roy, it's me." I answered.

"Oh, hey, Amber. What's going on?" He asked. I told him what happened on our mission today, including Kent Nelson's death but I left out the part about Klarion. He was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry." He finally whispered. I sighed.

"I know. We'll probably have his funeral soon. You should come." I suggested.

"Yeah, I might. Just let me know when it is, okay?" He said. I told him I would and then there was a bit of silence.

"How are you doing? The whole solo thing?" I asked. I could almost hear him shrug.

"It's pretty good. I'm doing fine on my own here. Right now, I'm just sitting on my couch relaxing because I just got back from patrolling."

"I'm glad to hear you're okay." I said and I blushed from embarrassment. I didn't mean to make it sound so….relieved. Almost like when a wife would be talking to her husband in the Military who's overseas and knowing he's still alive. There was silence again which was killing me.

"Is everything alright, Amber? You're pretty quiet tonight." Roy finally said on the other line. I blinked.

"What's wrong with being a little quiet?" I asked.

"Nothing but that's usually not you. Usually you're….loud and excited." Roy said and I knew he was smiling. My eyebrow twitched.

"I am not!" I said….loudly.

"I rest my case." Roy laughed.

"Oh, shut up, arrow boy." I retorted.

"You'd be one to talk, fire mouth." Roy shot back and I, again, could tell he was smirking.

"Don't be jealous." I grinned. I could practically hear him rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, jealous, that's me." He said and a second later, the both of us began laughing. It felt good, talking and laughing with Roy. It felt like old times. I missed him, badly.

"Roy…" I whispered but closed my mouth. I was so close to telling him how much I missed him but I shut myself up in time.

"Hmm?" I had to think of something else to say to cover up that but, the only thing that came out was the second thing I was trying to avoid saying to Roy:

"Klarion knows who I am." I gasped and covered my mouth when I said that. Dammit. Roy was right, I had a big mouth.

"What?" Roy asked from the other line. I sighed and repeated what I said. Silence fell from Roy's side of the line.

"You should tell someone." He finally responded.

"I just did."

"Not me! I mean, someone like your mother…Andromeda." I bit my bottom lip.

"Okay, I think I will."

"You _think_?" I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, alright, I _will_. Happy?"

"Very much." He replied and I couldn't help but smile. Somehow, telling him just made me feel better. He always knew what to say, even though sometimes it was a harsh truth.

"It's late. You should get some rest. Sounds like you've had a long day." Roy said after a few minutes of silence.

"You should too." I replied.

"Yes, mom." Roy joked and I smiled.

"Don't make me send you to your room, mister!" I giggled and Roy chuckled.

"Too late, I'm already in my room. Goodnight, Amber." He said.

"Goodnight, Roy." I replied before hanging up, gazing at my phone where it showed the screen for Roy's number and profile. I stared at it for a while, just thinking about his handsome face before sighing.

"I love you." I whispered before shutting off my phone and pulling the covers over me and falling asleep.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>**- Alright so we got some plot twists here! How does Klarion know her? What's he planning? And I also gave you guys some RoyxAmber time as well. Sure, it might've been a phone call but it was a cute one, no? **

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


	7. Memories Are a Dark Illusion

**Disclaimer****- I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

**From Author****- Thank you KilalaInara and Takeshi981 for reviewing! My loyal fans and I hope you guys continue to stay loyal and help attract more people to read and review this story!**

**Okay, just a little note. I'm not using episode 8 "Downtime" because that mainly dealt with Aqualad and barely had the rest of the team in it. So, I'm moving onto the next episode, "Bereft." But, there's a little something extra in this chapter. You'll guys figure it out once you read. Enjoy!**

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><p>The next day, the first thing I immediately did besides my normal morning routine was head to my home in Star City to find my mother. I unlocked the door with my key and stepped inside.<p>

"Mom? You home?" I called once I shut the front door. She came down the steps that were right by the front door a moment later.

"Yes, sweetie. What's wrong?" She asked, coming up alongside me. I looked down. My mother was one of few who knew my past…my backstory…the others were members of the League because my mother had to tell them in order for them to help me. But, still, it was hard for me to tell anyone else. I haven't told the team….or Roy, even.

"Klarion somehow found out my identity." I finally responded, slowly looking up to see my mother's response. Her eyes were slightly wider than normal but then, her facial expression relaxed.

"Why don't we go have a cup of tea and you can tell me what happened?" She suggested, putting her hand on my back and leading me into the kitchen. It was a good sized kitchen with everything a kitchen would need…table, chairs, refrigerator, stove, oven, microwave, etc. But it also had a big counter area for cooking and preparing meals that took up nearly half the room but it was set up so that it wouldn't get in a person's way if they wanted to maneuver around the room.

Once the tea was boiled, my mother and I sat down with our steaming cups, waiting for the tea to brew and cool down. She laid a hand on my arm.

"Start from the beginning, darling." She instructed. I took a deep breath and told her everything that happened on the mission to Salem. She listened intently, never interrupting me. Finally, when I was finished, she spoke.

"Thank you for telling me, sweetie, and I'm sure the Justice League would like to know as well so they can help protect you." She said and the tone she gave, she was silently asking me for permission to tell the League. I nodded to her. She smiled at me and patted my arm.

"We will do what we can. As for yourself, just go along like everything's normal. By the way, how do you like your new team?" She asked. I looked up at her and smiled a little.

"They're great. Wally's hilarious even though he's a bit of a womanizer. Robin's brilliant with his hacking skills. Kaldur's a great leader and very understanding. M'gann seems very eager sometimes but, she means well. As for Superboy, well, he's a bit hard to read but, he's slowly coming along." I explained, smiling more. My mother smiled more.

"I'm very happy to hear that you're happy, Amber. Now, finish your tea and go back with your team so you guys can bond more." She said, leaning over to kiss my forehead. I smiled, drank my tea once it wasn't scolding hot, and headed back to the Cave.

Two days later, we all got together for Kent Nelson's funeral. Nearly the entire League was there as well as the team. Even Roy came. He was wearing a dark grey dress shirt, black dress pants and shoes and wore sunglasses over his eyes. It was good to see him in person (even though I had to stare at him for a minute because he looked so damn good!).

The ceremony was nice and I couldn't hold back some tears that made their way down my cheeks. I wiped at them with some tissues I had in my hands and felt M'gann squeeze my free hand for comfort. I looked at her and saw that she, too, had tears in her eyes. I smiled at her through my tears and continued to watch as they let everyone put flowers on top of Mr. Nelson's grave.

When Wally walked up to put his flower down, I saw his shoulders shaking and it looked like he was using all his strength not to cry. The rest of us put our flowers down on the grave and then watched as they buried him into the ground.

When the ceremony was done, most of the League members and the team just stayed and talked. Roy came up to me and inclined his head slightly to the right, silently asking me to walk with him. I did and we walked back over where the cars were parked.

"Did you talk to your mother about…you know?" He asked once we began approaching the cars. I nodded.

"Yeah, I did. She said she'd inform the League so they could help." I replied. We stopped when we approached Roy's car, a red convertible mustang. I crossed my arms over my chest. Lucky. Roy snorted.

"Don't hold your breath with that." He replied, leaning against his car. I frowned at him.

"Roy, knock it off. You know the League is helpful. Don't let your anger cloud your thoughts about them." I responded, leaning up against the car as well. Roy rolled his eyes.

"You sound like Kaldur."

"Yeah, because I've been spending time with him and the rest of the team and you should too." I shot back, looking over at him. I knew he could read between the lines and know what I was _really_ saying. This time, Roy narrowed his eyes a little at me.

"No." Was he short and not so sweet reply.

"Oh c'mon Roy. What's the real reason you won't join? Is it because you're jealous of Artemis?" I said and Roy slipped slightly on the car out of shock from the question. But then, he straightened himself up and glowered at me, frowning deeply. He didn't respond and after a minute, my expression softened.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I just wish you and Arrow can mend what happened between you two so things can go back to normal, ya know?" I said, standing up straight and brushing off anything that might've attached to the back of my black dress. Roy looked like he was about to say something but stopped when he saw someone approaching from a good hundred feet away. I looked over and saw Green Arrow talking with Black Canary. Then, I looked back at Roy and saw his eyes were narrowed.

"I gotta go." He said and got off the car, making his way over to the driver's side. He opened the door and slammed it shut. Literally _slammed_ it. I winced from the sound.

"Roy…" I muttered and he turned to glare up at me, like daring me to say anything to back up Arrow. I stepped back and watched him as he turned on the car and put his seat belt on. Then, I walked over onto his side and laid a hand on his arm. He looked up at me.

"If you need anything, I'm here, okay?" I said to him. He was silent for a moment but then, gave me a nod. I backed away from the car to let him pull out and drive away. I watched until the car was out of eye sight before sighing and turning back to see the rest of the League and team walking over to the cars. Artemis was the first one to make it over to me.

"What was that all about?" She asked me. She must've saw Roy abruptly leave the way he did. I sighed.

"It's nothing, Artemis. C'mon, let's head home." I said as we all got into the cars and drove off back to Mount Justice.

A few weeks later, we were all called into the lobby by Batman for our next mission. After suiting up, we all went in to hear what we needed to do. According to Batman, something landed in the Bialyan desert that wasn't alien, which was perplexing, but was giving off a strong power signal. Our mission was to go in and find out what it was. Batman also informed us of who ruled the land of Bialya. Her name was Queen Bee, a dictator and informed us to not use any radio signals to call in for help. But, instead of going straight into enemy territory, we would land on the border of Bialya, in the bordering country of Qurac.

Once we were ready, we all headed off to Qurac. We had brought a device to find and jam whatever this signal could be. Once we landed, Robin began working on setting up the device. M'gann said she would go check out anything suspicious around the area in camouflage mode. Aqualad told her to keep everyone updated via telepathic communication. She headed off and it wasn't long before she informed us that she was entering a tent surrounded by Bialyan soldiers.

_Alright, I'm inside. There are scientists in here testing some type of…sphere shaped machine. No, wait, it's not a machine, it's somehow alive!_ Miss Martian explained to us mentally.

_Oh my, someone's being naughty. _A new voice popped into our link. It was a man's voice and it sounded menacing.

_Psimon says…forget._ The man said to us and the next thing I felt was excruciating pain in my head, like someone was taking a knife and slicing my cranium in half. My vision blurred from the pain and I screamed in agony. I was only vaguely aware of the others screaming as well.

I'm not really sure what happened after that. It seemed my feet began to move on their own and I began walking aimlessly into the desert. But, it wasn't long until I succumbed to the horrible pain and finally fell face first into the sand.

**Robin's POV**

I slowly woke up with an incredible headache. My head was pounding and I felt a little dizzy. Still, I staggered to my feet and began walking, gazing around me as I did. Sand. All I saw was sand. Okay, so I'm in a desert.

Suddenly hearing a car coming, I quickly hid myself in some of the rocky formations in the desert, watching as the car drove by with soldiers on top of the car. Those uniforms…I recognize those uniforms. They're Bialyan soldiers….why are they here in the US?

Checking my holographic computer on my wrist, I realized they weren't in the US, _I_ was in _Bialya. _Okay, why am I here?

…And why is it September?!

Okay, stay whelmed, Robin.

I also noticed on my computer that there was a GPS marker on something in the desert. It was one of my GPS markers. Alright, that's a start. Hopefully, whatever that thing is I put the marker on will help clear up whatever is going on.

So I began walking, cautiously keeping an eye out for any more of those Bialyan soldiers. I had walked for probably about twenty minutes before I stumbled upon someone.

Yeah, that's right, some_one_ but it wasn't a soldier. It was a girl, older than me with flame designs on her outfit. She was unconscious.

Wait a minute…I recognize those flame designs and that brown and red hair. Her outfit was slightly darker but it was definitely her. It was Tempest. But, what was she doing way out here?

I slowly approached her and I heard her groan slightly and shift a little. It looked like she was waking up but as I reached out a hand, she suddenly began writhing.

"No! No! I didn't mean to do it! Don't take me to jail!" She shouted.

What the hell?

"It was an accident, I swear! Please, Bandit, don't let them lock me away!" She screamed and tears began flowing down her face. She clutched her head tightly with her hands and turned her body into an almost fetal-like position.

"Whoa, whoa! Tempest! Relax! No one's sending you to jail!" I shouted over her screaming and crying. I began shaking her, trying to get her to wake up. She sobbed for a few more seconds.

"Please….I didn't mean it. I was only…only doing my job…" She continued to sob. I was beyond confused but more so concerned. What on earth was she talking about? She was obviously having a nightmare….a very bad nightmare. I had to wake her up.

"_Tempest_!" I hissed loudly, shaking her body violently. Her eyes shot open and she awoke with a start, gasping for breath and looking from left to right frantically before her eyes landed on me. She was sweating and the tears were still leaking from her eyes. She blinked a few times, gazing at me, like she was trying to remember who I was.

"R-Robin?" She gasped finally, sucking in a shaky breath to calm her nerves. My hands were still on her shoulders where I had shook her and I could feel her heart beat. It sounded like her heart was about to explode out of her chest.

"Yeah, it's me, Tempest. Geez, are you alright?" I asked, still shocked from the intensity of her cries just a moment ago. She had to take about two long minutes to completely calm herself down and wipe her tears away.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." She replied and then gazed around. "Where are we?" She asked. I explained to her where we were and about the marker I was after. She agreed to help me and we both headed off into the desert.

**Tempest's POV**

Robin and I followed the GPS tracker to the marker he had placed to see that it was on some computerized device in the middle of the sand. It seemed quiet enough but we approached it with caution. When we got close enough, however, we were ambushed by Bialyan soldiers. We began taking them down but then, three more people entered the fight. I recognized one as Kid Flash but the other two girls….I had no idea who they were.

Once the bad guys were down and tied up, one of the girls, a green skinned Martian who was apparently Martian Manhunter's niece, began explaining we were on a team and we had a mission here. Also, we had lost our memories. Okay, that part I could figure out.

"I think I may have a way to get our memories back. If you let me probe into your minds to use what you've remembered and combine what I remember, we could finally put the pieces together." Miss Martian suggested. I sweated a little. She wanted access to my mind? I bit my lip. What if she probed too far and find out about my past?

The others seemed all for it and Miss Martian promised to only access our memories from the past six months. I was hesitant but I eventually let her in. I closed my eyes and let the memories flow. Slowly, ever so slowly, it all came back to me. Finding Superboy at the Cadmus building, forming the team, all of our previous missions until now, and even things that happened during this current mission.

Superboy was missing. We needed to find him. But wait….there was one other. When the memories panned to his face, we all realized at the same time who else was missing….Aqualad! This is not good. Someone who depends on water so much has been out in the desert for more than twenty-four hours. He could die.

"Okay, I think I can find him." Robin said once we broke the mind link. He began looking at his holographic computer and found the tracker that was on Aqualad. Immediately, we all raced to that location, still being cautious about whatever could be waiting out there in the desert.

Finally, we found the Atlantean lying in the sand, unconscious. Miss Martian cradled his head and put her hand on his head, ready to restore his memories but, he began muttering in Latin. He was becoming delirious…or already was. This is bad. Really bad.

"We need to get him to the bioship so we can re-hydrate him." Artemis said. M'gann gently laid Aqualad's head back down on the sand and stood up.

"But, we also need to find Superboy. I think he's in trouble." She said. We protested, telling her that Aqualad needed treatment immediately but then, she cried out that Superboy needed her help and flew off.

Great. Now we needed to wander aimlessly through the desert to try and find the bioship. Way to be a team player, M'gann.

Finding some sticks and things in the sand nearby, we put together a make shift gurney and put Kaldur on it. Artemis and Wally grabbed one end of it while I grabbed the other and we all followed Robin's directions towards the bioship. Thank God for his little markers.

We came across a few soldiers along the way but, we didn't want to fight with Kaldur unconscious. Robin planted a few explosives in the sand nearby the soldiers and when they imploded, sending up a cloud of smoke, we used the cover to run past them.

Finally, after who knows how long, we made it to the bioship. I helped Artemis and Wally lift Kaldur off the gurney and onto a table. Then, we injected a needle into his arm with the other end filled with fluid.

_I have Superboy everyone! We'll be at the bioship soon._ M'gann's voice popped into our heads a moment later. I smiled. They were alright. Thank God.

Once M'gann and Superboy got back, the Martian restored Aqualad's memories and then began flying the bioship home, explaining to us that the both of them destroyed the tent with the living machinery in it.

Speaking of the machinery….it was staring at me and it was kinda creeping me out but apparently, it helped the other two take down the soldiers so it couldn't be that bad. Oh boy, this is gonna take some getting used to.

As we flew home, I glanced over at Robin. He had woken me up from that horrible nightmare. But…by the way he shouted my name to wake me up…could it be that I was screaming in my sleep? What did I say? Did I reveal anything of my past to the boy wonder? I rubbed my arm.

I hoped not because I'm not sure the team would accept me if they knew what I did so many years ago.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>**- So, we saw a bit of the mission based episode but also, a little twist. Hmm…more questions just keep popping up, don't they? Well, they will be answered in due time. For now, please review!**


	8. Seeing Red

**Disclaimer****- I do not own anything of Young Justice. **

**From Author****- Thank you again my wonderful reviewers! Always look forward to hearing from you guys.**

**Okay a few things I'd like to point out here. First off, since I'm going out of town tomorrow, I probably won't be able to update but, who knows? I might get some time.**

**Secondly, since I want to get this story done before I go away, and after some calculation, I realized I will have to update two chapters in one day a few times. Today is probably not one of them. It'll probably start next week. It will only happen maybe 2-3 times just to make sure I have the story done by the time I leave. So, that just means double the fun for you guys! **

**Alright, without further ado, here is chapter 8!**

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><p>A few days have gone by since the Bialya mission and I'm still shaken by what happened. Not the memory loss thing but the fact that Robin could possibly know pieces of my secrets and, being the detective that he was, could find out information if he wanted to. I had been debating whether or not I should talk to him about that.<p>

Eventually, I made up my mind.

"Initiate combat practice in three….two….one…" The Cave's monitor said as Robin and I stood on the glowing circle in fighting stances. The others were, thankfully, away doing something so this was my chance to talk to him.

He came at me first with a right hook but I blocked it and countered with a kick. He dodged it by flipping backwards a few times.

"Robin, I need to talk to you about the Bialya mission." I said, throwing a left at him. He grabbed my fist and punched me in the shoulder, sending me staggering for a moment.

"What about it?" He asked, as I threw another punch at him.

"About when you woke me up from that nightmare…." I muttered as I dodged a kick. He stopped for a moment and was silent, almost as if he was expecting this sooner or later. When he didn't respond, I continued.

"Do me a favor and don't be the detective you usually are. Whatever you heard, forget about it, okay?" I pleaded, sending a punch his way and making contact with his ribs. He grunted from the hit and stepped back.

"For the record, I didn't do the 'detective' thing yet so you don't need to worry. And secondly, whatever it may be, I'm sure the rest of us will understand." He said. This is exactly what my mother keeps telling me but, I'm so afraid that the team will think differently of me if I tell them.

"Please, just don't say anything to anyone okay? Our secret?" I asked, looking at him with hopeful eyes. He sighed but then nodded.

"Our secret." He confirmed. I smiled at him.

"Thanks and now that that's out of the way…" I said and then kicked out his legs from underneath him, causing him to fall flat on his back. I grinned down at him.

"You lose." I giggled. He glared up at me.

"That was a cheap move." He said. I laughed and offered my hand to help him up. He took it but then, using the grip he had on my hand, flipped me over his body and onto my back with a loud thud. This time, he grinned at me.

"Payback." He laughed. I glared at him but then sighed.

"I guess I deserved that." I said and got up with the help from Robin. I knew I could trust Robin with my secret but I also knew eventually I would need to tell the team. I just didn't know when.

The next day, Batman didn't call us in for a mission so it looked like we had another free day. So, I went and did a few errands back in Star City then came back and cleaned up a little around the Cave.

Just when I finished putting the cleaning supplies away, I heard a little click come through my communication link in my ear. I always kept this thing in (except for obvious times like showers) because you never know when an emergency would come up.

"Red Arrow here. Tempest, you there?" Roy's voice came from the other end of the link. I clicked the comm link to let him know I was there.

"Yeah, I'm here. What do you need?" I asked, sensing something was up. The tone in Roy's voice said this wasn't just a normal phone chat. Besides, he would've called me on my phone for that instead of the comm link.

"I need you to look up something for me. Use the files that the Justice League has to find out the height of Cheshire, the League of Shadows assassin." Roy said. I walked over to the main circle of the lobby and accessed the holographic computer. I began typing away on the hovering keyboard in front of me. A picture popped up of that green clothed, cat masked assassin that tried to kill Roquette a few weeks back.

"Alright, says here that she's five foot six." I paused when I heard a lot of background noise from Roy's end. "Where exactly are you?" I asked.

"At the peace treaty for North and South Rhelasia in Taipei. I have a feeling Cheshire might try to assassinate one of the leaders." The archer answered.

"Do you need any help?" I asked before I could stop myself. I heard Roy scoff on the other line.

"Not from your so called 'team.'" He said, making me roll my eyes.

"Fine, just don't come crying to me when you get your ass handed to you." I said, playfully, smiling a little.

"Oh, I love the support, Tempest." Roy joked. I snickered.

"I know you do. Be careful and good luck. Tempest, out." I said, clicking the comm link to break communication. I went to my room to change, deciding to go for a run. I exited the Cave only to see Artemis returning.

"Hey Amber." She greeted once she was at the door. I smiled at her.

"Hey Artemis. Wanna come running with me?" I asked. She smiled.

"Sure just let me go change." She said and then headed inside. A few minutes later, she came back out in a tank top and running shorts. We began running and started to talk.

"So, what did you do today?" Artemis asked. I shrugged.

"Some errands, some cleaning, that's about it. What about you?" I asked.

"Practically the same. So, how are you and Roy doing?" She suddenly asked and I stumbled and skidded my knees on the ground. Ouch.

"W-What?" I stammered, blushing. She laughed and stopped running to wait for me to get up.

"The others tell me not only that you and Roy are best friends but you also have some feelings for him." She grinned as we started running again. I pouted.

"I never told them anything like that!" I protested, making her laugh more.

"Well, I haven't seen you around Roy enough to know but, apparently, it's obvious to the others." I groaned at that. Great, so my secret love wasn't so secret after all.

"You'd be one to talk about Wally." I said, smirking at her. I saw her blush slightly but looked away to hide it.

"I don't like Wally."

"Sure, I believe that."

"I don't!"

I laughed. "Whatever you say, Artemis."

Then, I heard another click from my comm link. Before I could even respond, Roy spoke on the other end.

"Tempest…I need your help." He gasped. He sounded out of breath which worried me.

"What's going on?" I asked, concerned and I saw Artemis smirking at me out of the corner of my eye. I glared at her and began walking away to get some privacy.

"Cheshire was apprehended after an attempt to assassinate the leaders of Rhelasia. But, when I questioned her, Sportsmaster broke her out of jail. I followed them and found they're working for Ra's al Ghul. I barely escaped." He explained, taking a few breaths to catch his breath.

"The Shadows will definitely take another stab at killing the leaders. If Cheshire can't do it alone then Sportsmaster will help her." I concluded and gave a signal to Artemis to continue running without me. She nodded and ran off down the road. I then began walking back towards the Cave.

"Which is why I need your help. How fast can you zeta here?" Roy asked. I let the zeta beams zap me back inside the Cave.

"Just need to suit up and then I'll be there. Tempest, out." I said, breaking the link and heading to my room to put on my outfit. Then, I walked back over to the zeta beams, put in the code of where I wanted to go and it zapped me to Taipei. I called Roy back and asked him where to go. He told me and I headed to the building where the meeting was turned into a ceremonial dinner. It looked like the peace treaty was very close to be written. But, by the looks on both the leader's faces, the assassination attempts must've sent some bad vibes.

A long table was set up on a stage which sat the two Rhelasian leaders, some of their captains as well as Lex Luthor. Roy was standing behind Luthor, who was the arbitrator for this peace treaty. That part bothered me…I didn't trust Luthor but there was nothing we can do about it now. For peace, I had to swallow my suspicion of Luthor and protect these people. I stood in the crowd, trying to blend in with the other people. I kept an eye out for Cheshire.

Then, in my peripheral vision, I notice a young waitress pushing a tray towards the tables that were seated in the room. She wore a kimono-like dress, had her hair pulled up and white make-up on her face. But, I knew it was Cheshire. I turned on my heel to face her.

"Don't come any closer…Cheshire." I said, revealing who she was to the rest of the people. She looked frustrated at first that her cover was blown but then, she smirked. She pressed a button on the tray she was pushing and then shoved it towards me. I heard Roy release an arrow behind me and I knew what would happen next if I didn't put up a big enough firewall.

When I did and Roy's arrow hit the tray, an explosion erupted in the room. I fought to keep my wall up while also using my powers to try and diminish the damage from the fire that exploded out of the bomb. However, once the smoke cleared and I put down my wall, two statues that were in the room had fallen down, glass from nearby windows were shattered and lying on the floor. Also lying on the floor was Cheshire but she got up a moment later. Then, a helicopter appeared outside the broken window. Sportsmaster as well as some other masked assassins jumped out and began advancing on us. The Rhelasian leaders order their soldiers to attack the assassins.

"I got Cheshire, you take care of Sportsmaster." Roy ordered to me. Cheshire laughed.

"Possessive are we, Arrow?" She joked and I felt a surge of jealousy run through me but I brushed it aside and ran over to where Sportsmaster was. I made fire whips and began attacking Sportsmaster with them. He dodged the blows I made and countered with one of his spears. I spun around just as the spear was about to impale my face and kicked the masked man in the back, sending him staggering forward. Then, I wrapped the fire ropes around his waist and threw him across the hall.

He staggered to his feet and pulled out a rope with a mace attached to the end of it. He whirled it around and then began lashing it at me. I dodged a few of the blows but then got hit in the gut by it, rolling on the floor from the hit. Sportsmaster tossed the mace aside and pulled out a small sword and stood over me. He looked ready to stab me but I made a fire shield to block the attack and then kicked his knees, causing him to buckle. I leapt back and created fire swords of my own. Sportsmaster got to his feet and chuckled.

"Pretty good, Tempest. Just like how you and your team did in Santa Prisca and Bialya." He commented which shocked me. What?

"How do you know anything about that, assassin?" I asked but I knew I wouldn't get a straight response. Instead, however, Sportsmaster gave me this reply:

"Got an inside source, girlie." And then, he went after me again. I blocked his sword with my two swords and slashed at his arm. It cut slightly, both burning his skin and cutting it. He glared at me and continued to come after me. I blocked his attacks and flipped backwards to get some distance between us.

"Tempest, we need to end this, now." I heard Red Arrow call to me from behind me. I then heard a few crashes from some of the other fights going on in the room. I glanced over to see that someone had knocked over a floor lamp-like thing that instead held fire in it and the fire began to spread. My lip twitched upward.

Perfect.

Putting my fire swords away, I pulled the fire that was spreading towards me, swirled it around and then forced it both Sportsmaster's and Cheshire's way while also conjuring more fire out from my hands. It looked like a sea of flame was about to engulf the two assassins. But then, one of them threw a smoke bomb and surrounded the room in a dark grey cloud. I coughed as the smoke filled my lungs but waved the smoke around me and Roy to make sure they wouldn't damage our lungs anymore.

Then, one more assassin jumped out of the smoke and went after Luthor. Luthor looked at a woman that was standing next to him and suddenly, she held out her arm and her hand opened up to reveal a weapon inside.

…And Luthor chose now to reveal this? This is why I hate Luthor. I knew he was doing this peace treaty thing to profit from it. And, sure enough, the Rhelasians asked Luthor for his weapons to help protect their country. I looked at Roy and raised an eyebrow at him, silently saying:

_What are we? Chop liver?_

Later, after we moved out of the demolished room and down to the first floor, the Rhelasians finally got to sign their peace treaty. Afterwards, Roy and I walked out of the building, our job done.

"Makes me feel like we just did a favor for Luthor." Roy said as we made our way outside and away from all the media.

"Don't think of it that way. Think of it as helping to slowly gain world peace." I responded, smiling slightly. Roy shrugged.

"I heard what Sportsmaster said to you, Tempest, that there's a possibility of a mole on your team." He said, looking at me. I sighed.

"Yeah, I know but, I'm not sure if I should take it seriously since it's Sportsmaster who said it. Still, I will do some digging…without the others knowing." I added in that last part. Roy and I continued to walk until we came to a clearing and then stopped.

"You're not going to say anything?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I shook my head.

"I don't want the team falling apart if it's not true. Also, I don't want to give a head's up to the mole if there is one." I responded and Roy seemed to understand because he nodded. Then, I asked him something that was in the back of my mind for most of the night.

"Red Arrow, you could've called the League or, more specifically, Green Arrow tonight. But, inside, you called the Cave." Okay so it wasn't exactly a question but still, it held hints of a question within the fine print. Roy stayed silent for a moment then responded.

"I know and I'm sorry about the way I've been…downgrading the team. You guys don't deserve that. I'm still going to stay solo but, I'll be there to help if you need it." He said, smiling sincerely at me. I haven't seen a smile like that on him in a while. I acted without thinking and suddenly hugged him. Not a big, tight hug but still, a hug. He hugged me back with one arm and we pulled away a moment later. Then, we headed over to the nearest zeta tube and zapped back to Star City. I was about to bid him farewell but then, he said something that made me nearly hit the floor.

"How about we go get something to eat?" I managed to keep from falling on my face long enough to respond to him.

"Yeah, sure." I smiled. It had been awhile since we actually hung out like this so it was nice. My house and his apartment weren't too far away from one another so we both stopped at each other's places so we could change out of our clothes and into street clothes. When Roy exited his apartment, he still wore sunglasses…

….at eight o'clock at night.

"Roy, would you take off those sunglasses? There's no point in them now." I said, motioning up to the full moon that was gleaming above us. He rolled his eyes and then took them off, stuffing them into his pocket. I tried not to stare at his gorgeous blue eyes. I hardly got to see them so yes, I made sure he took off those darn sunglasses that covered them up!

"The usual place?" Roy asked, coming down the steps from the apartment complex. I smiled.

"You bet." I said, getting a smile in return from the archer. We got into Roy's car and he drove us to the Poe Tavern, named after the famous author Edgar Allen Poe. It was a good sized bar/restaurant, very homey and relaxing. Roy and I came across it a few years back and decided to try it out. Now, it was one of our favorite places to go.

Roy parked and we went inside. We got sat a few minutes later at a table by the window. We began looking through the menu and chatted as well. He was telling me about some other things he had been doing besides the whole hero thing and I told him about the other members of the team. He still seemed a little tense when I talked about Artemis but thankfully, the waiter came over at that moment to get our orders.

Once we ate and paid the bill (well, technically Roy paid even though I tried to help but he refused), we headed back out to his car and drove back to my place. He stopped the car in front of the house and turned off the engine.

"Thanks for dinner, Roy, it was great." I said.

"You're welcome." A silence came between us….a very awkward silence.

"Amber?" Roy said after a minute. I looked up at him to see him staring back at me intently.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" He said which shocked me. Not him saying that specifically but the fact that he said that so randomly. Could he somehow sense a strange vibe from me like he did the other night on the phone?

"I know, Roy, but…" I stopped to find the right words.

"But what?" I sighed.

"I…I need to figure things out first." I responded and it was all I could come up with. I felt terrible I was keeping this secret, well, two secrets actually, from him but, I wasn't ready to tell him. Not yet.

Suddenly, I saw him reach a hand over and grasp mine. My cheeks flushed. His hand was warm and soothing. It made me…long for more of his touch. It felt so good against my own skin.

"Whenever you're ready, I'll be here." He said in a soft voice. I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face at his words. I always liked seeing this side of Roy, this caring side, even though most of the time he hides it behind his rough nature. Again, I couldn't control my actions as I leaned in close to him.

"Thank you." And then, I planted a kiss on his cheek. After a moment, I realized what I just did and began to blush and panic slightly. Roy's face was expressionless, save for a little shock that was there. I tried to figure out something else to say but all that came out was:

"G-Goodnight, Roy." And then, I opened the car door, breaking our hands from their lock, making me miss that warmth that came from Roy, and walked up to the front door of my house. I fumbled with the keys but eventually inserted the right one and unlocked the door, opening it and then shutting it behind me. I glanced outside and saw Roy driving away.

I put my hand over my heart to feel that it was racing. My face was hot from blushing and the panic attack. I can't believe that I actually did that but, one half of me was actually…happy that I did it. My heart was fluttering like a little school girl but I didn't care.

But I also knew that I can't keep my love for Roy a secret from him for long.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>**- So, I added in some more fluff because we won't be really seeing much Roy in the next few chapters. I hope you guys liked it! Please review!**


	9. Conflictions of the Heart

**Disclaimer****- I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

**From Author****- I'm sure you guys liked the cuteness in the last chapter. Sad to say but, Roy won't be really appearing in the next couple of chapters. Heh, I'm evil, aren't I? Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>I didn't hear from Roy the next day after our little…um "date." In fact, now that it's been two weeks, I was really starting to get worried. Did he figure out my feelings for him through that kiss and is now avoiding me? I didn't want to even think of it. My best friend…the man I love…now avoiding me because he found out my feelings? If he reacted this way to what happened then how would he react if I told him my secret past?<p>

So many thoughts flooded through my mind that it was making my head hurt. So I eventually got up off my bed, took a shower, put on my outfit and headed out to the nearby zeta tube to zap over to the Cave.

When I got in, Red Tornado was there in the main lobby. He looked over at me once I came in. I decided to tell him about what Sportsmaster said a few weeks back.

"Greetings, Tempest." The android said once I approached him.

"Morning, Tornado. Listen, there's something I need to tell you." I said, getting right down to the point. I began telling him about what happened in Taipei and what Sportsmaster had told me as well as wanting to keep this low key, for I didn't want to tip anyone off…if there was a mole.

"This is…an intriguing piece of information. I see your struggle. But, the decision is yours what you do with this information whether you handle it on your own or tell one of your superiors." The robot explained and then began walking towards the door.

"I have to leave for the Watchtower. I will be back later." He explained and then exited the Cave. I watched him go and then headed off to find the others. Wally, Kaldur and M'gann were all helping to fix up Connor's bike. What impressed me was that Wally knew so much about bikes. He was acting like a pro the way he start tending to the vehicle. Course, he could be faking it and actually be messing up the poor piece of machinery.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the wall exploded behind us, making us all fly forward and collapse on the ground. But, we quickly recovered and began attacking whatever it was that just broke into our home.

We all tried to fend against whatever it was that was attacking. There had to be two because one was throwing waves of water at us and the other was throwing fireballs. I could handle the fireballs but water…yeah, not really.

Still, we fought on but eventually, the attackers subdued us. We realized they were androids but not just any androids. They had similar styles to what Red Tornado was. What…were these his siblings or something?

"Get your hands off me!" I shouted at the male robot that came over to incapacitate me. I tried blasting him but he grabbed my wrists and suddenly, a frigid cold ice began forming around my wrists and then my hands. I shivered. This was my weakness. Normally, I could just melt whatever has "frozen" me down but, if its frigid tundra Siberian style cold then I'm powerless.

Then, the robots held me down and melted something around my body so that I couldn't move. They did the same to Wally and Connor and the robot that uses water made the water in the Cave rise up slowly, ready to consume the speedster and the clone. As for M'gann and Kaldur, they had it worse. The female robot that could use fire made a flame cage around them and I knew it was slowly killing them. I coughed and shivered more.

Just like these ice shackles were slowly killing me too. If we didn't bust out of here, I would get frostbite and freeze to death, Kaldur and M'gann would suffocate to death and Wally and Connor would drown.

Our only hope now was Artemis and Robin.

And what's worse? The two robots gave our last hope ten minutes to surrender or else they'd kill us.

Shortly after that warning, Artemis and Robin popped up out of the water down by where Connor and Wally were. They gazed in shock at the prisons that were made for each of us. I coughed more and continued to shiver. My lips must be turning blue at this point. I don't know how long I, as well as Kaldur and M'gann, will survive.

I watched as the robots began attacking both Artemis and Robin. I felt terrible that I was so helpless and not able to come to their aid but, I couldn't do anything in this state.

Then, my vision began to blur as my body shook uncontrollably. No, this couldn't be it. I coughed again but then winced. It hurt to cough. Not a good sign. I glanced up at my friends one more time before everything went black.

The next thing I felt when I came to was Artemis shaking me and calling my name frantically. I coughed and opened my eyes to look at her. When she saw I was awake, she sighed in relief. I looked down at my hands to see the ice shackles were gone but, I was still freezing. I needed to lie here until the team could get me somewhere warm.

Then, I heard Red Tornado come in and began talking to the others. I could barely make out what they were saying since I wasn't at one hundred percent yet. But then, it felt like a twister suddenly erupted in the Cave and I felt myself getting short of breath. I gasped and coughed, trying to get air into my lungs but it was useless. I blacked out again a few moments later.

I don't know how long I was out for but when I finally woke up, I felt a soothing warmth around my body. My eyes fluttered open and I saw Andromeda kneeling over me and a fire dome covering my body.

"Just stay still, Tempest, your body needs to get warmed up." Andromeda instructed. I nodded and lay my head back down on the floor, closing my eyes and enjoying the heat that warmed my body. You know that feeling you get when you're cold and then you drink something hot and the warmth just goes to every part of your body? Well, Andromeda's dome felt like that only ten times better.

Once I felt warmer, Andromeda dropped the dome and helped me stand. I still felt a little off but, I was alright. And I went over to see that my other teammates were alright as well. Some of the League members were there as well, helping to break Wally and Connor out of their melted cages while also wondering what happened here.

"It was Red Tornado…and his siblings! After we manage to shut down all machinery in the Cave, Red Tornado appeared and attacked us!" Artemis exclaimed. The League members looked shocked at this news and looked at one another. Then, Superman spoke.

"You should all try to get some rest. We need to figure this out." He instructed. Once Wally and Connor were free, we, reluctantly, listened to Superman and headed for our rooms. I still felt a little cool so when I got into my room and changed, I pulled the covers over me and snuggled in them. My body was exhausted and even though I wanted answers for what happened, I couldn't deny that I needed sleep.

The next morning, I woke up and dressed back into my outfit. Now that I had some sleep, I was able to think more clearly. Could Red Tornado have been the mole that Sportsmaster talked about? He _did_ attack us after all. I definitely needed to tell Batman.

And when I walked out to the main lobby, I saw some members of the League fixing up the place and getting the power back on and such. The others were sitting at a table talking with Green Arrow and Batman. I walked over to them.

"Batman, may I have a word with you?" I asked. He nodded and we walked off to the other side of the room where the others wouldn't hear us. I then began explaining to him about what happened in Taipei and about the possibility of a mole on the team.

"It could be Red Tornado, considering the attack last night but…" I was cut off when Superboy suddenly come over and grabbed the scruff of my top, lifting me off the ground.

"You knew all along and you never told us?!" He shouted at me, his blue eyes gleaming with anger and hatred.

"Connor, stop!" M'gann called, flying over to stop him.

"No! She knew that there was a traitor among the team and yet she kept her mouth shut!" Superboy shouted again, glaring harder at me. The others walked over with shocked faces.

"What?" Robin asked, bewildered.

"Why didn't you bother to tell us?" Kid Flash asked angrily, narrowing his eyes at me. I put my hands up defensively.

"Look, guys, I was only…" I started but was cut off again by Artemis.

"Only what? Keeping information a secret to us that could've saved our hides?" She shouted at me. Batman then broke up the argument and Superboy let go of me.

"_We'll_ take care of Tornado and since you all are without a den mother for the moment, the League will be rotating members. Captain Marvel volunteered to be first. Also, I have a mission for you all." Batman said and the holographic computer popped up, showing news clippings about people being attacked by some sort of giant gorilla with a gun. We had to go investigate these attacks in India and shortly afterward, we departed, along with Captain Marvel.

The entire ride, I could feel the eyes of my team burning into my back. I didn't speak a word to them since I knew anything I'd say would get thrown back in my face. The only one of the team that didn't seem to be glaring at me was Aqualad.

Once we landed, we switched to our stealth gear and the others were so angry with me that they were barely listening to Aqualad's commands. We all ended up splitting up in fury. Robin and Kid Flash went off together, Miss Martian and Artemis and then Superboy went off on his own.

"Tempest, I understand your predicament, which is why I am not angry with you." Aqualad said, coming up alongside me when the others took off.

"I wasn't sure if I could take what Sportsmaster said seriously but then again, I needed to be cautious because it could be true. But, I didn't want the traitor, if there was one, to know." I explained and Aqualad nodded.

"I would've done the same thing if I was in your shoes." He said. Captain Marvel began looking around.

"Well, we better get moving." He said and the three of us began our trek into the forest. We walked for a good while until we came to a clearing. We noticed some strange tracks and bullet casings on the ground and began to examine it when suddenly, we heard a noise. Then, out of the forest came these enraged elephants wearing black collars around their necks. But these elephants looking slightly larger than normal elephants….and more ferocious.

But, ask questions later, attack now.

The three of us began attacking the elephants but it was hard to get a good hit on them because, well, they're elephants. But, during the fight, I heard Aqualad call to me.

"Break the collars!" He shouted. I didn't need to be told twice. I dodged as a trunk nearly crushed me, latched onto the elephant's leg, and crawled my way up its back. Then, I made fire ropes, wrapped them around the collar and broke it in half. The elephant stopped and began looking around confused. I jumped down from its back and watched it walk off into the night.

Once Captain Marvel and Aqualad were done dealing with their elephants, we regrouped and began talking about the collars. Someone had to place those collars around their necks. Aqualad tried to communicate with the team but the signal in our comm was jammed and because everyone ran off in a huff, Miss Martian didn't get to establish a mental link. But then, Miss Martian contacted Aqualad and she established a link.

_Artemis and I were attacked by creatures wearing collars similar to the ones used in Belle Reve._ The Martian told.

_Aqualad, Captain Marvel and I were attacked by animals with those collars as well. Is everyone alright?_ I asked.

_Oh, so now, suddenly, you care about our wellbeing, Tempest?_ Kid Flash said. I frowned and didn't notice that Captain Marvel left Aqualad and me in the clearing.

_I'm surprised she actually told us she was attacked too since, ya know, she has a funny way of keeping her mouth shut during convenient times._ Artemis shot back.

_Stop it, all of you. She was merely doing what she thought was-_ Aqualad tried to back me up but that caused an uproar from the rest of the team.

_What? You're backing her up, Kaldur? _Robin asked, angrily.

_Whose side are you on, Kaldur?_ Artemis asked and I was beginning to get angry over this stupid bickering.

_Did you really believe there to be a mole on this team? And to believe it could be _**us**_?_ Kid Flash asked as Aqualad and I walked through the clearing to try and find Captain Marvel. What we found, however, were three stick-like machines formed in a triangle as well as footprints and drag marks.

_Even if you guys knew each other for so long, after the months we've spent together, she still believed one of us was a traitor!_ M'gann said, angrily. That's it, I've had enough.

_Shut up, all of you! Listen, I know you may think I did the wrong thing by not saying anything but I had good reasons not too! _I shouted.

_We need to stop this fighting. Captain Marvel has been captured and we need to stick together as a team. So, swallow your anger for Tempest and then, once we free Captain Marvel, we can all talk this out._ Aqualad said, backing me up.

_And by talk, he means if you all want to vote me off the team. _I added. There was silence from the group and I wasn't sure if it was because they were shocked at what I said or if they were all just contemplating on what to do.

Eventually, we all met up and began tracking Captain Marvel. We came across a compound that was protected by an invisible barrier. We had to make an opening large enough for Artemis to shoot an arrow at a button that would shut it off temporarily.

Aqualad ran down and using his strength and magical abilities, began prying a hole open in the barrier. Artemis shot her arrow and I heard a click sound and the barrier was down. We all ran through before the barrier came back up but treaded cautiously.

We had to take down a few collar wearing monkeys and even that gun carrying gorilla from the news clippings but, eventually, we made it inside to see that it was the Brain that was behind it all. He and the gorilla man made their last stand inside the complex. Aqualad went over and freed Captain Marvel, who was tied down on an examination table.

I threw a few fireballs at the gorilla but I had to move out of the way because he shot his machine gun at me. Artemis blasted him with some of her explosive arrows, disarming him in the process.

Once the Brain saw that he and the gorilla, Mala he called it, were outnumbered, he unleashed this big weapon from his mechanical body only to find out it only turned off the lights. When the lights turned back on, Mala and the Brain were gone.

We all headed back to the bioship to depart. We made sure all of the collars were taken off the animals in the forest. Although, one beast decided to stay. A giant white wolf that was twice the size of a normal wolf. It seemed to like Superboy so he decided to keep it, naming him Wolf.

"Tempest, why did you keep this mole thing a secret?" Robin asked me once we began to pile into the bioship. The others walked over as well, wanting to hear.

"The person who told me was Sportsmaster. And, before any of you say anything, I don't trust him but still, there was a chance his information was true." I explained and the others looked at each other, realizing my confliction.

"And she didn't want to tip the traitor off by saying something to us." Aqualad added. I looked at the others.

"If you guys still want to vote me off the team, then I'm ready." I said, looking at each of them. After a few minutes, Artemis came up to me and spoke first.

"We would never vote you off this team." She said, making me smile. Then, we all got into the bioship and headed home.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>**- So, this chapter was a little bit shorter than the others but don't worry! There's one right after this one that's being updated today. Please review still and enjoy the next chapter!**


	10. The Seeds of Injustice

**Disclaimer****- I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

**From Author****- So, here's the second chapter for today. Again, I apologize for no Roy but don't worry, he'll come in soon. Enjoy!**

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><p>A few weeks have gone by and we still haven't heard anything about Red Tornado. We were all getting angry about this whole ordeal, thinking that, again, the League is leaving us out on important things.<p>

And, the only communication I've had with Roy in this past month was the occasional text message. I felt a strange vibe between us but, at least, he's talking to me. He hasn't said a word about the "date," but, at least there's some communication between us.

"Computer, national news." Batman said once he entered the Cave. The computer screen popped up and the news reporter explained how giant plant creatures were attacking cities around the world. The Justice League was trying to fend it off but it just kept coming back.

"From what you all have informed me about the Kobra venom back in Santa Prisca and the collars from India, it's possible that not only is this plant infused with Kobra venom as well but there is a secret order who is behind all of this." Batman said to us once we watched the news feed.

Suddenly, the news feed cut out but then, someone's face appeared on the screen. Green hair, white skin, giant smile, purple suit….the Joker.

"Sorry to interrupt the show everyone but I wanted to bring you this announcement…from the Injustice League." He said and moved the camera over to a group of villains. I recognized them all: Poison Ivy, Count Vertigo, Ultra Humanite, Atomic Skull, Black Atom and Wotan. They asked for ten billion dollars in exchange for stopping the attacks on the cities and then, the feed was cut.

"Well, looks like their secrets out." I said, sarcastically.

"We'll have the ransom ready just in case but it won't come to that. The Justice League will handle the plants. If there are so many plants attacking at once, there has to be a control unit. Your job is to find that control unit and destroy it." Batman explained.

"Aw man, missing out on all the fun." Wally commented and Artemis whacked him over the head.

"You idiot, we'll have our own problems to deal with." She said. The redhead glared at her.

"What are you talking about?" He asked and I face palmed. Sometimes, Wally can be so dumb.

"She means the Injustice League, Wally." I said. Wally realized it and grinned widely but also stupidly to cover up his little fail moment.

"I'll find them for you but after that, it's up to you seven." Zatara said, coming up alongside Batman. Robin provided him with a holographic map. Then, Zatara used his spell and found the location of the Injustice League: the Louisiana bayou.

So once we all suited up, we all headed into the bioship and headed for the bayou. Aqualad brought along a bag and when asked about it, he said it was our backup plan. We didn't ask any more questions but suddenly, Miss Martian said how the bioship was feeling dizzy and we ended up falling into the bayou water. Then, we saw more of that plant-like creature thing wrapping itself around the bioship, slowly pulling it into the water.

Then, Black Atom burst open a hole in the bioship but Superboy punched him, sending him flying back. But, the hole caused water to flow into the ship. Miss Martian opened a hole in the ship and we all swam out. I was never really a fan of water but after Tornado and his family, I _really_ hated water.

Once we got onto land, we were attacked by Count Vertigo. The world spun around me due to his stupid and annoying powers but Aqualad blasted him with some water, freeing us from his trap.

_Robin, Miss Martian, go! _Aqualad ordered the two. M'gann went into camouflage mode and disappeared into the forest along with Robin. We had our hands full with Vertigo and Atom. But, due to Vertigo's stupid powers, he weakened us long enough for Atom to knock us out.

When I woke back up, we were in some sort of mystical cage. Wotan gloated that it was impenetrable. I tried throwing a fireball at Wotan but when flame erupted in my hands, the cage shocked me. We had no choice but to sit there and wait for either Miss Martian or Robin to somehow bust us out of this cage.

As if on cue, the bioship ran into Wotan, knocking him into the water below. The hit caused the spell for the cage to break and we all ended up falling into the water as well. I was covered in mud from my knees down but I didn't care. We stood in the muck right in front of a building with a giant plant on the top…the central control system.

Superboy and Wolf took on Ultra Humanite, Artemis and Aqualad fought Ivy, and I helped Kid Flash take on both Black Atom and Vertigo. KF tried running at them but Vertigo caused him to slow down enough for Atom to side swipe him. I threw a few fireballs at them to blur their vision and got close enough to round house kick Vertigo to the face, knocking him down. I went to hit Atom but he was faster, punching me in the gut and sending me through the water, muddying my hair and outfit even more.

"No! Not my baby!" I heard Poison Ivy shout. I glanced up at the plant to see a bunch of little lights gleaming on it. It took me a moment to realize it was Robin's explosives. Then, they imploded, destroying the plant.

"Timber." Robin said, appearing on the roof with Miss Martian after the explosion. Then, Atomic Skull and Joker joined in the fight and it turned into an all-out warzone. Artemis was being targeted by Vertigo and without her bow and arrows, she was at a great disadvantage.

"Back off, Vertigo!" I cried, sending a line drive of fire his way. But then, Wotan flew in front of him and blocked the fire with his magic. Then, he flew into the air and sent shockwaves to each and every one of the team. Aqualad and I were able to withstand the shock for a while, due to his magical talents and for the fact that lightning was just another form of fire. But, still, it didn't mean we could hold it for long.

The shock finally ended when Wotan was distracted by something. When I looked up, I saw that Aqualad was holding the helmet of Fate in his hands, ready to put it on. _This_ was the backup plan? But Wally said if anyone put on the helmet, we might lose them forever!

"Aqualad, no!" Kid Flash screamed but too late, Kaldur slipped the helmet on and suddenly, he transformed into a man wearing blue and gold armor…Doctor Fate. He flew up into the air and battled with Wotan while the rest of us continued our fights with the other members of the Injustice League.

I helped M'gann take down Ivy. I blasted her plants with my fire and, anyone who has taken science would know that plants and fire don't mix. Ivy shouted at the fact her "babies" were being killed but then, Vertigo appeared and blasted me with his dizzying abilities, causing me to fall to my knees. Then, both Kid Flash and Artemis worked together to take down Vertigo and Ivy, making me able to see clearly again.

When I got up to help my teammates with the rest of the bad guys, the Justice League suddenly appeared and the Injustice League surrendered and were apprehended. As for Kaldur….

"You let him put on the helmet? How could you? Now, Kaldur is lost to us!" Wally exclaimed. There was silence from Doctor Fate but then, he pulled off the helmet and Kaldur was back.

"What?" I asked, bewildered.

"Kent helped convince Nabu to let me go." Kaldur explained. Batman cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"Today's work is done. The plant creatures have been destroyed and the Injustice League has been defeated. Good job everyone." He said. Then, we all headed home which was great because I seriously needed a shower!

Wally had to get treatment for his arm because he had broken it in battle. But, that just gave him an excuse to be a little lazy the next upcoming week. Black Canary was our den mother this week and she watched over us as we did a little combat practice.

But then, the zeta beams chimed in Zatara who then override the code to let someone else through. A young girl with black hair and blue eyes stepped through. Zatara introduced her as Zatanna, his daughter. The first person to run up to her was, shockingly, not Wally but Robin.

"Hi, I'm Robin. This is Megan, Kaldur, Connor, Wally, Artemis and Amber." He said, introducing us all. She smiled at all of us.

"So, are you here to join the team?" I asked her but Zatara stepped forward.

"No, Amber, this is just a visit." He said and then turned to talk to Black Canary.

_Okay, is it just me, or does Zatara and the rest of the League for that matter not trust us to stay on our own?_ M'gann asked mentally.

_Yeah and I think that's why Captain Marvel is hanging around here too._ Connor added, glancing over at the Captain who was playing with Wolf.

_Obviously, the League doesn't want us going off on our own to track down Tornado._ I snorted, crossing my arms. Zatanna stepped up.

"Are you guys talking to each other mentally? Because, ya know, I think that's a little rude." She said, glancing over at Zatara and Black Canary who heard her and had stopped talking.

"Alright, yeah, we were talking about Tornado. Why hasn't anyone told us anything?" Connor asked Black Canary.

"Because the League has yet to find the three robots or T. O. Morrow, their creator. And we don't want any of you going after Tornado, understood?" She said in a very firm voice, one similar to the one my mother would use on me.

"How about you all show Zatanna around the Cave?" Zatara suggested and we all, reluctantly, agreed. We walked into the kitchen but stopped once we were out of ear shot of the two Leaguers.

"This isn't really a tour, is it?" Zatanna asked.

"No, we're going after Tornado." Aqualad confirmed.

"But, wait a second, what about Zatanna?" Artemis asked.

"She won't tell….right?" Robin asked, turning the question to the magician's daughter.

"I can't….if you kidnap me." She said, grinning. A smirk broke out on my face.

"I like her already." I said and we all headed into the bioship to begin our search. When Black Canary contacted M'gann, she lied and said we were showing Zatanna Happy Harbor. She believed us and let us continue to take a ride in the bioship.

"Okay, we need to think here. Batman wasn't able to find T. O. Morrow so we need another idea on how to find him." Robin said and we all looked at Wally, hoping he had an illogical idea. He did and it was crazy but, we'd take it.

We flew over to Belle Reve to talk with Professor Ivo. He was Morrow's competition so maybe he did know where to find him. Like I said, very illogical but we'd take anything.

At first when we questioned him, Ivo wouldn't say anything but then, Zatanna, using the same style of spells as her father, somehow made Ivo tell where Morrow is….at Yellowstone National Park.

I can't believe this illogical idea actually worked.

"How close are we to Yellowstone? I'm ready to take Tornado apart." Superboy said after we got back into the bioship and flew towards our destination.

"Do you really think he betrayed us?" Aqualad asked him. Superboy looked at him.

"You don't think so?"

"No." I turned to him.

"Kaldur, his siblings nearly fried you and M'gann and almost froze me to death. Then, Tornado sucked the air out of our lungs when we let our guards down. How do you still not think that's betrayal?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"You may see it that way, Amber, but I do not. There could've been another reason for why Tornado attacked us like that." Aqualad answered. I huffed and turned away from him. Part of me wanted to believe that but the anger in me didn't.

When we landed at Yellowstone, we barely made it fifty feet when we were suddenly attacked by Red Tornado. At first, we were appalled at the fact that he would attack us again but then, I noticed a message written in the dirt nearby:

Play Dead.

Putting up the act, we attacked Tornado as if we didn't see that. He took us down easily and knocked us down, the wind from his powers swarming around us. We continued to play the part, lying in the sand as if we were seriously injured or worse.

But, someone figured out our act. More like some_thing_.

Another red, different from the two that attacked us in the Cave stepped up and revealed the part of the ground that had the message in it. Red Tornado flew off so we had to deal with this new red.

"You humans are pathetic." The android said, punching Wally away as he tried to ram him.

"We're not humans!" Both M'gann and Connor shouted, going after the android.

"My mistake, I suppose I should call you all….flesh sacks." The android corrected himself. This red had the power over Earth and was able to make the rocks crack and fall beneath our feet.

Suddenly, the mountain behind the new red exploded, sending lava throughout the area. I used my powers to create steam from the lava, giving my teammates the cover they needed to make a sneak attack. However, the android saw it coming and threw rocks coated with lava at them.

_The volcano behind him…it's about to have another eruption. A third stage eruption. If that happens, the entire planet will be gone._ Wally explained mentally.

_Attack all at once, now!_ Kaldur ordered and we did as we were told. I used my fire whips to pull away the rocks that the android sent our way and even with our simultaneous hits, it still wasn't enough.

But then, suddenly, water sprouted out from underneath the Earth around us. We thought at first it was Aqualad who did it but, he claimed it wasn't. Then, the two reds who attacked us before, along with Tornado, came out and attacked the third android, knocking him into the lava. The lava began to slowly burn away at their bodies until, finally, the three androids had died down.

"Hang on, Tornado!" Superboy cried, running over and grabbing Tornado's body which was sticking up out of the lava. His legs were gone but he was still functional. Even though the evil red was defeated, that still didn't stop the volcano.

"Red Tornado, we need a vent pressure, now! This volcano is about to decimate the planet!" Kid Flash shouted over the minor explosions coming from the volcano. Tornado didn't say anything, he flew up into the air above the cloud of smoke and somehow, stopped the volcano from hitting that stage three eruption.

Once he flew back down, we headed down into Morrow's lab to fix him up. We activated his voice box, which apparently was offline, so he could speak to us again.

"You sacrificed everything to save the world. You are a hero and therefore, not a traitor, you never were." Kaldur said to the android.

"No, my brother and sister were the heroes today." Tornado corrected. Then, Superboy walked up to him.

"I need to ask though…why did you choose to watch over us when we first created the team?" He asked.

"I am an android therefore I don't need sleep, food, or any of the necessities of a human so I was the practical choice." Tornado answered.

"But the way you're made, you're able to adapt and evolve." Wally said.

"You wanted to be more human." M'gann said.

"I suppose so." Red Tornado agreed.

Once we fixed him up to be able to walk, he told us he had something to do and said he'd meet us back at the Cave. We let him do whatever he needed to and we headed home. But, once we got there, we got yelled at by Black Canary and Zatanna was reprimanded by Zatara.

Gee, and I thought today ended up being a good day. I guess I was wrong.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>**- Again, I apologize for no Roy and for slightly shorter chapters this time but I hope you all still liked these two chapters. Please review!**


	11. Nightmares Consume Thee

**Disclaimer****- I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

**From Author****- So I know you guys were disappointed with no Roy in the last two chapters but do not worry! He comes in this chapter and believe me, this is one of the big chapters for the story (one of many)! **

**But, I won't make you guys wait any longer. Enjoy!**

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><p>Six days have passed since the big fight at Yellowstone National Park. Red Tornado was back in the League after he was well and fully repaired and our lives continued on as normal. We had no mission today but instead, a training exercise.<p>

Batman brought us into a part of the Cave where seven beds were laid out in a circle. He told us this was to be a simulation that would all be put in our minds. Knowing this full well, we all lay down on a bed and closed our eyes. Martian Manhunter was the one to "activate" the simulation and it was barely two seconds before I felt myself wake back up in the Cave but I knew this was the simulation Cave.

We were all called into the main lobby by Red Tornado where a news report was broadcasting about an alien invasion that was using disintegration beams to kill people. Even the Justice League seemed to be helpless against these aliens and their weapons. Suddenly, Zatara popped up on the screen.

"Tornado, our space barriers have been destroyed." He informed the robot.

"Yes, I know, Zatara, I will meet you out there to help defend the planet." Tornado replied. Zatara nodded and the monitor closed off the conversation link. Tornado turned to us.

"I need to go out there and join the fight but if the Justice League fails, the world is in your hands." He explained to us. Aqualad stepped up.

"We're ready." He said and then Tornado left. All we could do for the moment was sit back and watch the different news feeds from all over the world showing the aliens destroying the cities and the League members getting disintegrated. Then, the last of the Leaguers, Red Tornado, was disintegrated as well.

"It's up to us now." Aqualad said.

"Okay so it's obvious we can't do a full throttle assault so we need to figure out some other way to take down these aliens." I said and then Robin showed the holographic globe. Many red marks, indicating where the aliens were, were plastered all over the planet…but there was one stray red dot that was near Iceland.

"What's it doing there?" Superboy asked.

"That's the location of Superman's fortress of solitude. There's a power source there which I'm sure attracted the alien scout that's there now." Robin explained and Superboy seemed shocked at this news.

"So we'll go there and take down this ship and use its disintegration ray or anything else we can find on it to help aid us in taking down this hostile alien takeover." Aqualad explained and we all suited up for the cold. I felt nervous about going there since ya know, cold is my weakness but, with my cold stealth gear outfit, it kept me warm enough to not freeze my butt off. This stealth outfit was mainly white and light blue, blending in with the tundra around us.

We jumped into the bioship and flew to the fortress of solitude, being wary of the alien ship that was sitting outside guarding the door. We slowly approached the ship, hiding behind the many ice hills that surrounded the area. Once we disabled the ship, Miss Martian brought the bioship over to connect the bioship and the disintegration ray so that the bioship could use it. However, while she was doing that, another small disintegration ray that was hidden from our view was about to zap Superboy but Wolf heard it and pushed him out of the way, getting zapped instead.

"Oh no…" I whispered. Saddened by the loss, we pulled ourselves together and let Miss Martian continue to reroute the systems in the bioship to connect the disintegration ray to it. But, while she was doing that, she couldn't use her weapons and a few more spaceships were coming right at us.

_I'll cover you all! _Artemis cried to us mentally. She blasted both of the ships with her explosive arrows and began running towards us but didn't see that one of the ships was still functional. It pointed its ray at her and….

_Artemis, look out!_ I cried to her. She turned around and tried to shoot but it was too late…the ray hit her dead on and she disintegrated right before our eyes. Something in my mind changed from then on. I forgot everything…the fact that this was a simulation because I just had a notion that it wasn't a simulation, everything here was real. It was all real!

And that means, Artemis was really gone.

"Artemis!" We all cried after our friend was taken from us. I didn't want to believe what I just saw but, it happened. It was real.

"Everyone, inside, _now_!" Aqualad ordered and took down the ship before it could zap anyone else. We all got inside and sat in silence as we tried to think clearly. Wally was venting off his anger and frustration by shouting and slamming his fists on the wall of the ship. M'gann was crying as she navigated the bioship and I couldn't blame her, I was fighting back tears of my own. I don't know how long we were flying for before someone finally spoke up.

"Listen, team, we can't fall apart. We need to protect the planet. We'll head back to the Hall of Justice but, we need to find out if there are more young heroes out there that are still alive. Tempest…" Aqualad said, turning to me, making me wipe my eyes and look up at him.

"I want you to go out and find anymore heroes you can. When you do, zeta back to the Hall of Justice unless I give you further instructions to go anywhere else." He ordered and I nodded, unhooking my seatbelt and clicking a button on my gear to change it from tundra mode to stealth mode. I looked at M'gann.

"Where are we flying over now?" I asked her. She looked at the map on her ship.

"Star City." She answered and I nodded. She made me a cord to hook onto my uniform so she could settle me down on one of the buildings. She opened up a hatch and I jumped through, dangling in the air above the buildings of Star City. When I was low enough, I unlatched the cord and tumbled onto a nearby building rooftop.

"Contact us if you find anybody. And, be careful, Tempest." Aqualad said through my comm link.

"Same to you guys. Tempest, out." I said, breaking the link and cautiously sneaking around the rooftops, jumping from one to the other, keeping an eye out for any heroes or alien ships. I jumped down a nearby alleyway and looked around the corner to make sure no aliens were around.

"Tempest?" I whirled around at the sound of my name being called, made flames erupt in my hands to blast whoever it was.

"Who's there?" I shouted. The person stepped out and I was shocked to see them here. It was Zatanna. She looked a little beaten and her clothes were torn slightly. I put my flames away.

"Zatanna?" I asked, running over to her and supporting her with my weight.

"What are you doing here in Star City?" I asked her. Her eyes welled up with tears and she began to sob slightly.

"Dad went out to fight the aliens but never came back. I went out to go searching for him but I was attacked by the aliens. I don't know how I managed to escape but I did. I fell through one of the abandoned zeta beam areas and Star City was the first place I could think of." She cried and I rubbed her back for comfort.

"I'm sorry Zatanna but, you need to stay strong. Aqualad sent me out here to rally anymore heroes that might be alive. I'll take you to the nearest zeta tube and you can zeta to the Hall of Justice, alright?" I explained to her. I felt bad that I couldn't use more time to console her but, we were short on time. I hoisted her up more and cautiously walked to the nearest zeta tube which was about a block away. Once there, I helped her inside and said goodbye before she was zapped away.

"Okay, got one hero, let's see if I can find any others." I said out loud to myself and continued to stealthily walk the streets of Star City. I walked probably five blocks but saw no signs of any other heroes or aliens.

Suddenly, I heard a noise behind me. I turned around and saw a ship looking right at me. Dammit, I spoke too soon. I rolled out of the way as the ship's disintegration rays try to blast me and I was ready to blast it back but someone beat me to it. Three arrows shot out of the darkness and hit the ship, exploding on impact and disabling the ship.

"You really need to learn to watch your back, Tempest." His voice called out. I already knew who it was when I saw the arrows. Red Arrow stepped out of the shadows, his bow held in his right hand. I stood up and ran over to embrace him.

"Red Arrow! Thank God you're alive!" I exclaimed, letting him go a moment later.

"Same to you, Tempest. What are you doing here in Star City? Where are the others?" He asked.

"Aqualad sent me out here to rally anymore heroes. I already found Zatanna and sent her to the Hall of Justice. C'mon, we need to keep searching." I said, turning to head back out to the streets but Roy stopped me.

"There's no one else to search for, Tempest. They're…they're all gone. They had the same idea, rallying together but, the aliens got to them. I barely escaped." He said, looking down a bit sadly. A sting of pain hit my heart.

"Then, the both of us need to get to the Hall of Justice to help." I said and Roy nodded, readying his arrow and searching around the corner of the street. When it was safe, we moved onto the next street, trying to head back to the zeta tube I had escorted Zatanna to.

But then, three alien ships spotted us and began shooting their rays at us. We dodged them and I threw fireballs at one of them, shooting it down. I rolled out of the way as another ray tried to zap me but this time, Roy took it down with his arrows. A cloud of smoke erupted around us from his explosive arrows.

"Where's the third one?" I muttered, looking around for it. Roy readied another arrow and began to look around cautiously. I kept the flames in my hands ready. It was quiet but once the smoke cleared, mayhem exploded around us.

"Tempest! Look out!" Roy shouted to me and I whipped my head around to see the alien ship readying its weapon to attack me. Everything happened in slow motion after that. I began to turn to fully face the ship but then, I saw a blur of red and black in front of me. A strong hand shoved me out of the way and I was sent rolling on the pavement nearby. When I looked back up, it was like my worst nightmare came true. Roy shot an arrow at the ship but then, the alien ship blasted its ray, disintegrating the arrow and then, the archer that shot it.

The man I love disappeared before my very eyes.

"ROY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, reaching out a hand to where he just was two seconds ago. Tears erupted out of my eyes like a raging waterfall and I was barely paying attention to the alien ship that now pointed its ray at me.

The aliens…..it was their fault! They did this! They're the reason I lost a teammate and now the one I love! I won't let them get away with this!

Pure rage exploded inside me and it felt so good. It felt so right, I can't really explain it but it felt like a purified anger was coming out of me and then showing off in the flames that were made in my hands.

I glared up at the ship and rolled away as it blasted me. Then, I created fire ropes, the thickest ropes I've ever created, and wrapped it around the ship. This anger was giving me immense strength, enough to swing the ship upwards and then slam it back down onto the ground, demolishing it in the process. I stood there panting from the anger and adrenaline for who knows how long until I heard a click from my comm link.

"Tempest here." I growled.

"Tempest, zeta back to the Cave ASAP! We need you." Robin said on the other line.

"Roger that. Tempest, out." I said and broke the link, rounding the corner where the zeta tube was. I stepped through and was zapped to the Cave, where I saw Miss Martian, Kid Flash, Robin, Superboy and….Martian Manhunter?

"What's going on?" I asked. The others explained they found Manhunter at the Hall of Justice, still alive somehow but then, they were attacked. They zeta here but Aqualad and Zatanna were lost in the process. I felt another stinging pain go through my heart. Why? Why so much death? What could these aliens possibly gain from all of this?

"Listen up, the only chance we have at winning this fight is to attack their mother ship. We also believe people may not have been disintegrated by the rays but instead teleported since the rays give off similar signatures to our zeta beams." Robin explained, showing the mother ship on his wrist computer. It had landed in Smallville.

"Superboy, you still stand outside and create a distraction while the rest of us go inside." Robin said and I stepped up.

"I'll help him with the distraction." I said and the others looked at me.

"Are you sure, Tempest?" Kid Flash asked. I nodded and cracked my knuckles.

"Oh yeah, I have some unfinished business with these alien freaks." I said, growling under my breath.

We then all headed for Smallville after sending a message to people around the globe to inspire them to have hope and to stay strong. We stayed outside the mother ship and watched as Miss Martian and Martian Manhunter went into camouflage mode and density shifted inside the ship. Then, Robin nodded to me and Superboy to let us know to start the distraction. Superboy grabbed a hold of me and leapt on top of the section of the ship where outside stationary guns were. Superboy grabbed a hold of one of the guns and pulled it out enough so that the aliens didn't have control over it but still just enough so that he can use it. I stayed nearby with my flames ready.

We began blasting away at the rest of the stationary guns outside the ship. It wasn't long before more ships deployed out of the mother ship and came after us. We blasted a few down but then, I saw a disintegration ray take Superboy away. More anger fueling my flames, they erupted around me, blasting any ships within a good fifty feet from me. However, there were still ships that were left and I turned to see a ray hit me straight in the face and then, everything went black.

My body felt stiff as I opened my eyes. But, I was surprised that I was even _able_ to open my eyes. Didn't I….didn't I just…die? How could this be possible? I was back in the Cave, lying on some bed. I was vaguely aware of someone helping me sit up and blinked a few times to realize it was Batman. Wait, Batman? But, he died! Everyone died! What's going on?

"I'm sorry but it looks like this exercise was a bad idea." Batman explained to me and I blinked. Exercise? What exercise? What on Earth was going on?

But, even while I was having a minor breakdown, everything came back to me. It _was_ an exercise, a simulation. It wasn't real and yet…it felt like it was. It felt so real, like a true nightmare. I felt myself shaking.

"You all knew you were going into a training exercise and knew it wasn't real. What you didn't know was that this scenario was meant to get worse and worse as time went on. But, because you all knew it wasn't real, you didn't feel any remorse when the League members were killed." Batman explained.

"However, everything changed once you all saw Artemis die. Even though M'gann knew it wasn't real, seeing that in front of her eyes, it caused her mind to believe it was real and that her teammate was truly gone and because of that, she made you all believe the same thing." Martian Manhunter explained further.

"So why didn't you stop the exercise?" Superboy shouted.

"I tried but M'gann was so convinced everything was real that it was impossible to stop it. I knew then I had to stop everything from within. But, when I entered the world in your minds, everyone's thoughts clouded my mind and I couldn't remember why I was there. But, as each and every one of you 'died,' my mind became clearer until it was only myself and M'gann left in that world. I had to shock M'gann and wake her up from the exercise to stop it all." Manhunter continued to explain. My shaking got worse and I began to cry. I was on the brink of a breakdown and I knew it.

I was barely conscious of what happened after that. I remember Tornado trying to lead me to my room but I shook my head and said I needed some air. He didn't protest and let me be. I headed over to the zeta tubes but instead of letting it zap me outside, I made it so it zapped me over to Star City. I had to see for myself…to make sure…that Roy was still alive.

I dashed through the streets of Star City, making my way over to Roy's apartment. Tears were flowing down my face and my nose was getting clogged from the crying but I didn't care. I pushed myself to run faster to Roy's place until finally, I made it to his apartment.

"Roy! Roy, please! Open up!" I shouted, pounding my fist on the door. I stood there for a minute, which felt like hours to me before he finally opened the door and stood there in the doorway staring at me confused. But then, it changed to concern once he saw my tears.

"Amber? What's going on? Why are you crying?" He asked, reaching over and putting a hand on my shoulder. I gasped at his touch. His touch…it was there and I felt it. It was real and so was he. He was here, right in front of me, in the flesh and not dead. I slowly reached up with shaky hands and cupped his face in them.

"I-It's you….you're…you're a-alive. You're r-really alive!" My voice broke as more tears flowed down my cheeks, this time more happy than sad. He stared down at me, obviously lost as to why I was acting this way.

"Of course I'm alive. I'm right here." He said. My body continued to shake as more tears fell out of my eyes, slightly blurring my vision. Then, I latched myself onto him, wrapping my arms around him and sobbing into his chest. I did my best to explain what happened with the simulation but my voice was very choppy and cracked from the crying. Still, I managed to tell him and he slowly put his arms around me, holding me there.

"It's alright. It's over now. It wasn't real." He whispered in my ear, rubbing my hair, trying his best to soothe me. I sobbed more into his chest and let him lead me into his apartment. He shut the door behind us with his foot and sat me down on the couch. Then, he got up to get me a cool glass of water before sitting back down next to me on the couch. I sipped the water slowly and tried to calm myself down.

"Everything's going to be alright, Amber." Roy whispered, moving some hair out of my eyes. I shook my head.

"Don't call me that." I mumbled. He looked at me confused.

"Don't call you what?"

"Amber."

"But, that's your name."

"No…it isn't." I said, swallowing. Roy's eyes widened in shock at this new information. It was time I told him…told him everything.

"I'm sorry I never told you this before but, I was too afraid that you would think badly of me and never want to speak to me again." I said, wiping away a few new tears that slipped out. Roy put a hand on my shoulder, making me look at him.

"Start from the beginning." He said, ready to listen. I nodded and took another sip of the water to help moisten my now dry throat.

"First, my name isn't Amber Parkinson…I was born as Heather Connolly. And secondly, Andromeda isn't my birth mother. She adopted me years ago after….after my real parents died." I took in a shaky breath to help steady myself.

"I never realized my powers until I was about ten years old. My parents and I lived in Salt Lake City at the time. I was sleeping in my bed one night but I woke up to the smell of smoke. My house was on fire. I tried to find my parents and get out but, I couldn't. I somehow still managed to escape the building and soon afterward, the fire department arrived. I pleaded with them to find my parents but once they doused the fire…they found the bodies of my parents….burned to death in that house." I stopped because I began to cry more. Roy put his arm around me to comfort me. I sniffled back the tears and continued my story.

"The police let me stay over at the station until they figured out what to do with me. I went into the bathroom and noticed in the mirror there was something different about me…these red streaks." I said, twirling my hair a little, indicating to them.

"I wasn't born with them but after that night, they suddenly appeared on my head. I panicked from it and it must've triggered my powers because I suddenly burned the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom. I was so scared, I ran away and just kept hitch hiking rides to get away from Salt Lake City. Finally, when I was just outside Reno, Nevada, the man who let me ride in his truck try to molest me. My powers again helped me but then, a passerby saw what happened and defended me, beating up the molester. Once he was done, the man told me he saw my powers and said he could help me. I was a helpless little girl but I was desperate. I let him help me and he took me in. He went under the name Bandit and I stayed with him and his group for about four years, learning to control my abilities." I continued, looking down, fearing to tell him what came next.

"Something tells me this isn't the end of the story." Roy pointed out, looking at me but I couldn't look at him. He then put a hand under my chin and made me look at him.

"You can tell me anything, Heather. You know that." He said, gently. I gulped down a lump in my throat and took a deep breath before continuing.

"Bandit and his group…it was a vigilante group. I went under the name Sage back then and we would take down minor bad guys like petty thieves, traffic violators, and things like that. But, one day, I was chasing after this one criminal and I followed him up onto a rooftop. He jumped me and I struggled to get him off of me. Finally, I managed to kick him off but, I must've kicked too hard because….he tumbled off the edge of the rooftop and fell to his death." I put my head in my hands, waiting for Roy's reaction. It most likely would not be a good one. He just heard his best friend confess that she committed a murder years ago.

"So you ran away again and Andromeda found you shortly afterward, I'm guessing." He said which shocked me a little. I was expecting him to shout at me not finish my story for me. The next thing he did, however, took me by complete shock. He wrapped his arms around me and held me close to him. I uncovered my face and just sat there in shock.

"Heather, it was an accident. You didn't mean to do it. There's no need for you to linger on that memory." He said, rubbing my back gently.

"But Roy…"

"You're not a murderer so stop thinking that you are." He interrupted me, pulling away to look me in the eyes. Those blue eyes of his seem to burn into my very being and I couldn't help but blush, feeling slightly exposed. He moved some hair behind my ear softly and I suddenly felt my body move on its own accord, without my mind's consent. I leaned up close to his face and planted my lips onto his, feather light at first but then I put more pressure behind the kiss.

When my mind finally began to click and I realized what I was doing, I was about to move away from the kiss but then I noticed Roy kissing _back_. One of his hands wrapped lightly around my waist and the other hand pressed gently onto the back of my head, intensifying the kiss ever so slightly. My arms immediately snaked around his neck and locked into place there. I felt weightless, like Roy was the only thing keeping me from flying off into the clouds. It sounded cliché and childish, I know but, I've wanted this for so long. I always imagined what the kiss would be like, what his lips would taste like but, the real thing was better than any of my imaginations.

When the need for air came, we finally pulled away, leaving me slightly breathless and flushed in the cheeks. Roy smiled at me and leaned his forehead on mine. That kiss may have expressed my feelings for him but, I still wanted to tell him. I _needed_ to tell him, to finally get the confession off my chest.

"I love you, Roy." I whispered the words and at first, I thought he didn't hear them because I spoke it in such a low tone. But, he must've heard it because his smile widened slightly and he planted a kiss on my forehead.

"I love you, Heather." When he said my name, my _real_ name, it sounded way better than the way he said my other name. It sounded so sincere, so wonderful and I couldn't even describe the happiness that flowed through me at hearing him say those words. The only way I could express it was by kissing him again, which is what I did. When we pulled away, Roy planted a sweet kiss on my neck, making me giggle.

"Do you want to stay here tonight?" He whispered in my ear and it was then that I realized just how exhausted I was. I yawned a little and he smirked.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said and then led me to his room. He went over to his dresser and pulled out one of his shirts and a pair of running shorts and handed them to me. He grabbed some other clothes from the dresser and held them in his hand.

"You can wear those tonight. I'll be right back." He said and then left the room, leaving me to change out of my clothes and into his. I had to roll up the shorts a few times because they were so darn big. I folded my clothes and laid them on a chair that was sitting in the room and sat on the bed, waiting for Roy. He came in a minute later, wearing only the shorts he had taken out of the dresser. I wasn't complaining though…I was enjoying the view.

"Heather, eyes up here." Roy said, pointing to his eyes and smirking down at me. I blushed and looked up at him, grinning a little.

"Sorry." I said and he chuckled. Then, he walked around the other side of the bed and crawled under the covers. I did the same and we faced each other. He stroked my hair and I snuggled against him.

"Thank you." I whispered. I felt him wrap an arm around me and kiss my forehead. Exhaustion took over my body and I fell asleep listening to nothing but the smooth rhythmic thumping of Roy's heartbeats.

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><p><strong>From Author<strong>**- Holy! It's finally done! This chapter! You guys have no idea how long I've been waiting to write this chapter! All the confessions have come out. So we see about Amber…er Heather's past and it looks like Roy's accepting of it (as well as her love). **

**But, there is more to come. Trust me, there is much more to come. I hope you all liked this specially long chapter! Review please!**


	12. A Night of Confessions

Disclaimer**- I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

From Author- **Wow, I can't believe how much feedback I got from the last chapter! Thank you all who reviewed! Today you guys will, again, get two chapters but this is the last time this will happen. The rest of the updates will be just the normal one chapter per day. **

**Alright, enough out of me, enjoy the two chapters!**

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><p>I woke up to feel of the sun warming my skin. I opened my eyes to see the rays coming through the windows of Roy's room and I sat up. I stretched a little and looked over next to me to see the bed empty. I frowned. Where was Roy?<p>

I was about to call his name but then I heard the shower running from the bathroom. I sighed in relief. I had thought for a moment that everything that happened last night was just a dream. But now, I knew it wasn't. It happened and I felt like a certain burden had been lifted off my shoulders and it felt nice but, I was still traumatized from what happened yesterday.

The bathroom door opened up and Roy stepped out, wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. He was rubbing his head with a towel but stopped after a minute and let the towel rest on his shoulders. His hair was down from being wet, slightly sticking to his face and some water was dripping down his face and his body.

I swear, if Roy wasn't a hero, he could definitely pull off being a model.

"Morning, Roy." I said, getting his attention. He looked at me and pushed some of his hair back. Then, he walked over and sat on the bed next to me, leaning over to give me a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Morning. Did you sleep okay?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, I did, thanks to you." I said, smiling at him. He smiled back and kissed my forehead.

"Why don't you shower and I'll make us some breakfast, alright?" He said, getting up from the bed and grabbing a shirt from one of his drawers. He slipped it on and left the room.

I got up off the bed, grabbed my clothes that I left on the chair the previous night and then headed into the bathroom to shower. Once I turned on the water, stripped and entered the shower, I sighed happily. The shower felt divine. I don't know what it is about showers but it's like they have healing powers or something because I always feel so good once I get one in.

After I was done showering, I changed into my clothes and dried my hair as best I could with a towel. I highly doubted Roy would have a hairdryer so I just made do. Once my hair was somewhat dry, I tied it back into a ponytail to keep it off my shirt so it wouldn't get wet. Then, I folded Roy's clothes he had lent me and set them on the bed.

When I walked out of the bedroom, the smell of pancakes and bacon entered my nostrils and it smelled amazing. It was then that I realized I hadn't eaten anything since dinner last night. I was starving!

"It's ready so you can go ahead and sit." Roy said, indicating to the table in the middle of the room. I nodded and sat down on one of the chairs. Roy laid a plate and a cup of orange juice in front of me before sitting down with his own plate and a cup of coffee. We ate in silence because well, it was so darn good I didn't have time to talk.

Just then, I heard my phone chime, letting me know I had a text message. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and noticed that I didn't just have one text message but _five_. I clicked through the messages and saw that two were from my mother, two from M'gann and one from Artemis, all asking me the same thing:

_Where are you?_ Or _Are you okay?_

I sent them all a text message letting them know I was fine and I'd be back at the Cave soon. I put my phone aside and continued to eat my breakfast. After breakfast, I helped Roy clean up.

"I need to get back to the Cave. The others are worried about me." I said to him. He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, giving me a few light kisses on my neck. I giggled a little.

"You're making it hard for me to leave, ya know." I said and he grinned.

"That's the point." He said and I rolled my eyes, pulling away from his grip. I turned to him and kissed him on the lips.

"I'll see you later, okay?" I said and headed for the door but his grip on my hand stopped me. I turned back to look at him and he was smirking.

"That wasn't much of a goodbye." He said. I shook my head but smiled and walked back over to give him a full out kiss. His lips tasted so sweet and I didn't want to pull away but I knew I had to.

"Call me if you need me." Roy said and I nodded.

"I will. Goodbye, Roy." I said and walked to the door. He walked me there and opened up the door, watching me leave.

"Goodbye, Heather." He called to me as I walked down the steps from his apartment and onto the streets of Star City. I found the nearest zeta tube and zapped myself to the Cave. The others were there and they looked relieved that I was alright but I could tell by the look on their faces that this tragedy was not going to be easily forgotten.

A week passed by and still, everyone was traumatized by the whole ordeal. I'd talk to Roy about it some more but I knew I needed extra help with it. We all did. So, Black Canary suggested therapy sessions with each of us. She pulled us each in individually to discuss our feelings on everything. When my turn came up, I was silent and I was staring at the floor.

"The others told me what happened with you in the simulation. About Roy." Black Canary said, reaching a hand over and grasping mine.

"I'm sorry you had to face that, Amber. It must've been awful, seeing the man you love taken apart before your eyes." She continued, squeezing my hand for comfort. I felt tears stinging my eyes but I tried to hold them back.

"Black Canary, you know my real name so please, don't call me Amber. Call me by my real name." I said and she seemed a little shocked to hear something so demanding from me.

"Alright, Heather." She corrected.

"And, to answer your question, yes, it was horrible. But, I went to go see Roy later that night to make sure he was really alive. That image of him sacrificing himself and being taken away was imbedded into my mind and I thought it was so real but, I needed to see him. When I did see him, everything came out. I told him everything. My real name, about Bandit, about the murder, and even my love for him." I said, hugging my knees and shaking slightly.

"I'm sure it felt good to let that all out." Black Canary said, leaning back against her chair. I bit my lip and a tear slipped passed my eyes.

"Yes so why do I feel like I'm still burdened by something?" I asked, holding my head and sobbing slightly.

"It's because you haven't told the rest of the team yet. The League knows of your past and now Roy does too but, you have yet to tell your comrades." Canary said, making me look up at her.

"But, I don't know if they'll be as accepting as you guys or Roy was." I said, hugging my knees tighter. Canary was silent for a moment.

"Heather, answer me this. Do you trust your team with your life?" She asked. I looked up at her with a confused expression.

"Yes, of course I do."

"Then why would you not trust them with the truth of your past?" She said, making my eyes widen. It was like somebody flicked on a light bulb above my head. Black Canary was right. I had to tell them.

"Thank you, Black Canary." I said and she nodded, standing up along with me. She put a hand on my shoulder.

"You'll feel better once you do it, trust me." She said, smiling down at me. I smiled back at her and left the room. I was the last of the team to get the therapy session so the others were here and there in the lobby, doing something. I glanced at each of them and took a deep breath.

Here goes nothing.

"Hey guys, could I talk to you all for a second?" I said, walking over to them. They stopped what they were doing and looked up at me.

"Of course, Amber. What is it?" Kaldur said as the others came up to me. I sighed.

"There are some things I need to tell you all. A lot of things, actually." I said and the others looked slightly confused but they listened in. I started slow, first saying what my true name was and that Andromeda wasn't my mother. Then, I moved onto the burning of my house, my real parents dying, and so on. But, when I came to the part of murdering that criminal, I hesitated. Then, I remembered what Roy said to me the other night:

_You're not a murderer to stop thinking that you are._

I took a deep breath and finally explained to them what happened that night and how I ran away and Andromeda found me. I never heard from Bandit again and I don't even know if he's still alive.

"Whoa…" Wally whispered once I had finished. Everyone had looks of shock on their faces. Robin was the first to step up to me.

"I guess I can understand why you kept that a secret but, you know we would've never judged you." He said and Kaldur spoke next.

"It happened years ago and it was an accident. You're not the same person as you were then." He said. I looked at all of them.

"So, you guys don't hate me?" I asked. Artemis laughed.

"Hate you? Why would we hate you? So, you have a past. Who doesn't?" She said, smiling at me. M'gann came over and hugged me.

"I still see you as a sister, Am-I mean, Heather." She corrected herself, laughing a little. I hugged her back. Connor didn't really say anything to me, he just nodded at me and I took that as a sign that he still liked me too.

"Thanks, you guys." I said, pulling away from M'gann and the rest of us continued what we were doing that day. I felt so free now. That burden was gone…it was finally and fully gone. Now, I could live my life without any fears.

About another week later, it was Halloween night. M'gann had invited us to a Halloween dance at her school. But before I could get dressed up, I was pulled into a meeting with Batman, Red Tornado, Red Arrow, Robin and Aqualad to discuss the mole situation.

"Alright, let's talk. Do we believe there is a mole on this team?" Batman asked, getting right to the point.

"I don't think so at all. Sportsmaster told it to me but, he can't be trusted. Still, I kept a low profile about it but, if there was a traitor, they would've betrayed us by now, especially during our fight with the Injustice League." I said.

"You all might be convinced but I'm not. The three of you as well as Kid Flash are trusted enough to not be traitors but, what about the others? Especially Artemis. For one thing, I know she's not Green Arrow's niece." Red Arrow said, making my eyes widen a little.

"She isn't?" Kaldur asked. Robin was about to say something but I saw Batman give him a look that shut him up. Did Robin know who Artemis really was? But, if he knew and if it was something bad, he would've said something to help protect this team.

"The one I'm mainly concerned about is Superboy. He's a Cadmus clone so we don't know what other programming might've been implanted into him." Batman said.

"And there's also Miss Martian. She may be Manhunter's niece but according to him, he has hundreds of nieces and nephews and he only met M'gann a few months back. She had apparently snuck onto his ship so she could come here to Earth. Does that sound suspicious to any of you?" Roy asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I do not believe any of it. We have fought together for months and I can say for certain that there is no traitor on this team." Kaldur said, firmly. Roy looked like he was about to protest but then, he thought better of it. We were dismissed after that. I walked up to Roy as he headed for the door.

"I know you don't like some of these people on the team but, you need to have a little more faith in them, Roy. Give them a chance." I said, standing by the zeta beam with him.

"I just don't want to see any of my friends, or you, get hurt." He said. I put a hand on his arm.

"We won't get hurt, not by members of the team anyway." I chuckled a little. "Why don't you come with us to the Halloween party at M'gann and Connor's school?" I invited but he just raised an eyebrow at me.

"You know I don't do dances. Or dressing up for that matter." He said and I rolled my eyes.

"Wet blanket." I muttered. He shrugged.

"Whatever. You have fun and I'll talk to you later." He said, going through the zeta tube. I sighed and headed for my room to get my costume on. I was going as an Egyptian goddess. I bought a white satin dress laced with fake golden jewelry, a black wig with more fake jewelry on it, and golden sandals. I did my make-up so I had that smoky eye look with a little black tail jutting out from the corner of my eyes, like all of the Egyptian women had. I put on some light lipstick and headed out to the lobby to meet up with the others.

Wally was dressed as a werewolf, fur stuck to his face and everything. M'gann was helping Connor with his outfit, wrapping him in white wrappings. Looks like he was going as a mummy. When she was done, she revealed her costume…a corpse bride. I was getting a little hint that perhaps she was becoming a Tim Burton fan. When she saw me walk in, she gasped.

"Oh my gosh! Heather, you look great!" She exclaimed, making me grin.

"Thanks, M'gann. You look awesome too." I said. Wally turned to me and blinked.

"So, who _exactly_ are you supposed to be? Cleopatra?" He asked. I decided to play a little with him.

"How dare you speak to me that way, man-beast! I am Isis, the goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility. Bow before my feet and beg forgiveness for your insolence!" I said in my best fake diplomatic voice. I tried my best not to laugh at myself and Wally could see right through my act. He got on his knees and did a few bows.

"Yes, my goddess, please forgive me." He said, grinning up at me. I lost it after that. I put my hands on my knees and cracked up laughing. Wally joined in and soon afterward, so did M'gann and Connor.

"Wally, that was perfect! I'm glad you caught on." I said, standing up straight. He did too and put his arm around my shoulders in a friendly hug.

"You actually sounded pretty convincing though, Heather." He said. After we were done laughing, we all headed to Happy Harbor for the dance. Once we got in, Megan introduced us to her friends Wendy, Karen, Mal and Marvin.

Marvin began talking about this viral prank that was being sent to phones and computers and such talking about aliens coming to take over the world or something. If only he knew that Miss corpse bride here was an alien.

Anyway, I began dancing with Wally while Connor and Megan danced. But about halfway through the third song we were dancing to, the lights blew out. Back-up lights came on and someone over the loud speaker informed us all to stay in the gymnasium.

Okay, someone was taking this Halloween prank to new heights.

But, apparently, the prankster was Marvin. Connor found him using his vision and heard him making that call over the loud speaker. So, we decided to prank him back.

Outside, M'gann morphed herself into some freaky little alien. Wally and I ran towards the gym where Marvin was standing outside screaming to run and hide. But, M'gann "took care of us" and then Connor told Marvin to run and M'gann "took care of him" too. Marvin freaked and ran inside. I couldn't hold in my laughter.

"This Halloween is just full of laughs." I said.

"And the best part hasn't happened yet. C'mon." Connor said and we all headed back into the gym to see Marvin freaking out and warning people about the aliens. But, when he saw that me, Wally and Connor were okay…oh my, the look on his face was priceless. I literally had to walk to the bathroom to let out my laughter. It was just too funny.

Who says heroes can't have fun too?

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><p>From Author- <strong>So this chapter was mainly about Heather confessing to the team but also some fun. I hope you all got some laughs from this chapter because I know I did! And not just writing about what they did to poor Marvin. That part in the show was priceless!<strong>

**Anyway, please review and enjoy the second chapter!**


	13. The Lady and the Firebird

Disclaimer- **I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

From Author- **So here's the second chapter for today. This one is more serious so enjoy!**

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><p>A few days after Halloween, things have gotten back to normal, really. Sure, that simulation still hurts to think about but the rest of us have found ways to deal with it. Training has gone better and I can feel myself getting better and better as time goes on. But, today, I was spending dinner with my mother. We talked and laughed around the kitchen table. Afterwards, I helped clean up.<p>

"Heather, you have a letter from someone." She said and handed me the letter. There was no return address, which was weird, but it had my name on it. Curious, I opened up the letter and gazed at the Latin words inside:

_Occurre mihi Roanoke Island_

Roanoke Island? Why would Roy want me to meet him there? I knew it had to be Roy who sent this because this was our thing, writing to each other in Latin. Maybe he had a mission that he needed help with? Either way, I told my mom what was up, suited up and headed for Roanoke Island.

When I got there, I realized Roy didn't tell me specifically where on Roanoke Island he wanted to meet me so I just kept walking. I figured he'd show himself at some point and then let me know what's going on. But then, once I came upon a crossroad on the island, I met up with someone who wasn't Roy but someone else….

"Klarion? What are you doing here?" I asked, readying my flames. His cat jumped down from his arms and he put his hands up defensively.

"Easy there, girlie, I'm not here to fight." He explained but I wasn't buying it. I kept my flames up, ready to blast him if he tried anything.

"You're probably wondering why I called for you here." He said and my eyes widened. _He_ sent me that letter? But, how did he know where I lived?

"You better have one hell of an explanation." I growled, my flames increasing as my anger did.

"Oh, believe me, I do but I don't think you'll like it." He said, grinning. I threw a fireball at him and he easily dodged it.

"Stop playing with me! Just get to the point. Why did you send for me and how do you know so much about me?" I shouted at him. He watched the fireball fly behind him into one of the trees before turning his attention back to me.

"How do I know? Because…we share blood, Amber." He responded and my eyes widened. What? Share blood? No, he's talking crazy! I have no relatives!

"Oh wait, I shouldn't call you that. After all, it's not your real name, is it, Heather?" He asked, smirking at me. Again, I felt fearful at how he knew so much. How was it possible? It didn't make any sense!

"I have no relatives…" I mumbled, still dumbfounded by his statement. He waved his hand around.

"Okay maybe not in the literal term is that statement true but still, we do share blood." He said as his cat rubbed against his leg. I glared at him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I demanded. He waved a finger at me and made a "tsk tsk" sound. He then began walking over to me. I kept my guard up, making sure he didn't try to pull anything.

"What am I talking about? Why, it's quite simple, really…" He said and then, with strength I wouldn't even think would be able to come out of a skinny guy like him, he latched his hand on my head and pushed down so that I was forced to my knees. I went to blast him but, that same familiar feeling of helplessness (like what happened back in the tower of Fate) came over me and I couldn't move.

"My blood…" Klarion continued and then, using one of his long fingernails, stabbed himself in the finger just enough to draw a little blood and held the hand over my face.

"…is in your veins." He finished and let his blood drip onto my cheek. Shock and fear consumed me all at once. His blood…inside me? No, he was lying! He had to be lying.

"Liar!" I shouted at him. Klarion laughed and let go of my head but I still felt like I couldn't move. He must've used a spell or something.

"How else could you explain that you suddenly gained pyro powers out of, seemingly, nowhere?" Klarion said, walking away with his back to me, waving his hand about as he began his explanation. My glare darkened at him.

"That night when your parents died, I snuck into your room and injected my blood into your veins." He said, turning to glance back at me. My eyes widened. What?

"The chaos powers inside you reacted…which caused the fire that killed your parents. So, you were already a murderer before you killed that criminal in Reno!" He exclaimed, throwing his head back and laughing. Even though I heard his words, I still tried to deny them. This can't be true…it can't be!

"Why do you think those red streaks suddenly appeared on your head? You thought it was because you developed those powers of yours? Partially true but not quite. You see, these streaks are a sign that you have the chaos powers inside of you. In other words…" Klarion said, kneeling down in front of me and making me look at him.

"…you're a Lady of Chaos." He finished, grinning maniacally at me. I shook my head as tears flowed out of my eyes. I should be laughing at the stupidity of such a thing but, something inside me told me it was true. That all he said was true. I clutched a handful of dirt as he let me go and took a few steps back, as if enjoying my torment.

"Well now that you know the truth, excuse me while I destroy your world." He said and turned his back to me. I saw him pull something out of his inner coat pocket…something shiny. From what I could make of it, it looked like a crystal or some sort of gem. Whatever he was planning to do with it, I knew it wouldn't be good.

"I won't let you!" I shouted and, somehow, was able to stand up. I created fire in my hands and was about to pounce on Klarion. But, I could make out him mumbling something in Latin and the next thing I knew, magical golden chains came up from the ground and wrapped around me, tying me down. I tried my best to break free or even melt the metal but my flames were useless. In fact, after a while of using my flames, I began to grow so tired that I couldn't even conjure any flames. Whatever this chain was, it was sapping my energy whenever I would exert some. Klarion smiled at me.

"It's not nice to interrupt people when they're about to bring chaos." He laughed and then, set the gem down on the ground. It glowed and a circle formed around it, around me, filled with unusual symbols and some language I didn't understand. Something was going to happen and I needed to warn the team. Problem was, I was too far away to contact M'gann and whatever these chains were, they disrupted my comm signal. There was no way I could contact the team, the League or anyone for help. All I could do was sit back and watch Klarion bring chaos into this world.

Klarion stepped outside the circle and a smaller circle appeared around his feet, along with four other smaller circles around the bigger circle. Klarion held out his hand, as if silently calling someone and a moment later, four people appeared in the four smaller circles.

"Wotan; Blackbriar Thorn; Felix Faust; and Wizard." Klarion called each of the magician's names as they appeared. Wotan and Klarion were bad enough so two more wizards will just be hell on Earth. I struggled against my chains and the other wizards paid me no heed. Instead, all five of them began to chant something. It wasn't Latin…I don't know what it was.

After a few minutes of chanting the same thing over and over again, the four wizards disappeared, leaving only Klarion and his cat here with me. I tried the chains again but with no luck.

"You'll never get away with this, Klarion! The Justice League and the team will stop you and the other wizards!" I shouted at him. He kept chanting for another minute before looking down at me.

"Not if the grown-ups and the children are split up." He said, grinning. My eyes widened in shock.

"Care to look?" He said, muttered something again and then a little circle popped up in front of me. It glowed and then showed me the world where I saw only kids and young teenagers…but no adults.

"You weren't zapped to the other world because you're not eighteen yet and therefore, not a grown-up." Klarion chuckled and the circle in front of me changed to the other world where I saw the adults looking upset and frantic at the loss of their children.

"This little clip might interest you." Klarion said and the mirror in front of me switched to Red Arrow talking with the League outside the Hall of Justice. My eyes widened. That's right, Roy would be on that side of these two worlds since he's eighteen.

"He's desperate to find your team…but you more specifically. Young love, blah! How childish." The lord said, making me glare at him. But then, my lips curled up into a little smile.

"You'd be one to talk about childish, Klarion. When your plans were foiled last time, you sounded like you were ready to cry like a baby." I spat at him. His eyes narrowed at me and he reached his hand out towards me. Suddenly, I felt a shocking pain go through my body and I screamed in agony.

"I'd be careful what you say, _sister_." He spat back, saying that one word with disdain. The shocking pain stopped but I still had to stay on my knees to regain my breath from the intensity of the torture.

Okay so maybe mocking a Lord of Chaos wasn't such a bright idea.

Suddenly, Klarion's attention was diverted for a moment as he looked around. Then, a few of Robin's discs and Artemis' arrows came at him but he stopped them by forming a thin red magic wall around himself, making the weapons drop at his feet. The others, they were here!

"Tempest!" Aqualad called as he, Superboy and Kid Flash tried to get a hit on Klarion but he conjured that red wall around the pentagram of power, making them fly back.

"Don't worry about me, guys! Get the-!" I was cut off by Klarion's chains shocking me again. I screamed in pain and fell on my face from the torture. I couldn't even tell them what to do to stop this stupid spell because of Klarion's chains.

The others tried to break down the barrier surrounding me and Klarion but it was too strong and Klarion would send a bunch of magic their way, whether if it was to knock them back or his dark fire powers. The team even tried killing the cat, Klarion's familiar, but Klarion commanded the cat, Teekl, to transform into a giant and ferocious saber tooth-like cat.

The mirror that showed me the other world was still in front of me and I could see the other four wizards standing in their circles outside the main circle of power except one circle, where Klarion would've stood, was empty. The Justice League then came across them, attacking them. Except, the only members that were there were Zatara, Batman, Red Tornado, Andromeda, Captain Marvel and Red Arrow. I didn't know where the other Leaguers were but still, those six had their work cut out for them it seemed.

No, I can't be thinking like that. If I couldn't physically help them then I could at least give them my faith that they would win this fight.

And, it seemed to be working. The Justice League was holding their own and Captain Marvel, who was able to move between the two worlds, must've informed the others that the gem was the source of the power. The team began to focus their attention on that, although, they still couldn't get the red barrier surrounded Klarion down. Suddenly, Klarion turned to me.

"Well, I don't want to leave you out on all of the chaos, Tempest. So, I have a little present for you." He said, letting Teekl distract the team. Klarion pulled out something from his coat pocket. It looked like a doll…it was a doll. But, when I was able to get a better view of it, I noticed the doll looked horrifically similar to Red Arrow.

That could only mean one thing: a voodoo doll.

"Klarion, no! Please don't!" I cried, struggling against the chains, even though I knew it was futile. Klarion laughed.

"Your pleas make it all the sweeter, sister." He said and then, jabbed one of his long and sharp fingernails into the doll's stomach. I choked out what I tried to be a cry of "No!" but it only came out as a gasp. I looked down into the mirror again and saw that Roy had stopped his attacks and was clutching his stomach. He put pressure on it but still, blood leaked out of the wound, onto his hand and then onto the ground around him. He dropped to his knees and then, fell to the ground completely.

My breath caught in my lungs and I felt my heart stop. This was different from the simulation. Yes, the simulation felt real but I knew that it wasn't afterwards. This….this, however, _was_ real. Roy really just got stabbed, he really was seriously hurt, he really could be dying….

…and I _really_ hated Klarion for that!

The same pure rage that flowed through me when the simulation Roy died flowed through me once again. Purified anger that felt so sweet. I didn't feel scared of it, in fact, I was ready to embrace it. Something in the back of my mind said that I needed to let it out.

And boy, was I ready to.

"KLARION! I'll make you wish you never did that!" I shouted and I screamed as the distilled rage got more and more intense. I was vaguely aware that someone had shot the voodoo doll out of Klarion's hands. I glanced over to see that it was Doctor Fate using Zatanna's body.

"Back off, Doctor. He's _mine_." I snarled and suddenly, that energy flowed from inward to outward and I felt something explode from my backside and yet, I felt no pain. When I looked, I noticed they were wings. Wings of gold and orange. I didn't care how they got there or how I conjured them but I knew they'd help me take down Klarion.

The chains around me snapped as I conjured flames in my hands. These flames were the same colors as the wings and not the usual color of my flames which were red and orange. Klarion seemed shocked at seeing me this way. I guess there was something about me he didn't know.

"I'll make you beg for death." I growled dangerously as I began exploding my powers of fire at him. He couldn't dodge them with his wall up so the only way he could escape me was by putting down that barrier but he wouldn't be able to escape the others once it was down. He had nowhere to run.

I made fire whips and began whipping them viciously at him, screaming in pure rage at him. All of my attacks were a blur to me, all I knew was that I was attacking him and I was winning. I barely noticed that the red wall around us collapsed and Doctor Fate had encased Klarion in his cross shackles. I didn't care, I wanted to finish him!

"Tempest, _stop_!" Aqualad shouted to me, wrapping his water ropes around me and pulling me down. I struggled against his binds but couldn't fight against Superboy once he jumped up and pulled down to the ground, pinning me there.

"It's over. Klarion's defeated…_calm down._" He growled, holding me down by my shoulders. I struggled to get him off of me but when Aqualad came over and demanded for me to control myself, it was like he slapped me verbally. I blinked slowly a few times and panted a little, the adrenaline still pumping in my ears.

The two worlds were brought back together and the other four wizards lay unconscious around the pentagram. Klarion called for Teekl and the tiger turned back into a cat. Klarion used his magic to free himself from Fate's binds. He then grabbed Teekl and made a portal but before he stepped through, he turned to me and said one last thing:

"So, how does it feel, Tempest? Wanting to kill someone? Congratulations, tonight proves you are a Lady of Chaos." He laughed and then jumped through the portal. I saw my mother knelt down next to Roy, healing his wounds. I wasn't paying attention to anything else around me. I slowly sat up and crawled, literally crawled, my way over to Roy. His face was scrunched in pain as my mother's flame continued to heal him.

"Roy…" I whispered, feeling tears sting my eyes again. He grunted and looked at me, giving me a small but weak smile. I just sat there in silence, barely noticing that the wings on my back were gone.

After Roy was healed enough to stand, my mother and I helped him up and he staggered to his feet. I then looked over to see Zatanna pulling off the helmet and Zatara taking it from her. He hugged and kissed her one more time before slipping on the helmet of Fate. I gasped. Zatara must've made a deal with Fate to become the new host for Nabu instead of Zatanna. Doctor Fate flew into the air, taking the four wizards with him to bring them to justice. I had no words…there _were_ no words I could say to Zatanna after that. Besides, even if I wanted to say something, I wouldn't be able to. I was still shaken by what happened with everything and the information I learned from Klarion about being his….sibling.

We all headed back to the Cave after that so that everyone could rest and heal up after that fight. Batman arranged for Zatanna to move into the Cave and to join the team so that she would be protected and looked after.

I, on the other hand, was questioned about why I was at Roanoke Island.

"Don't patronize her! She obviously had no idea that Klarion would be there on the island!" Andromeda shouted at Batman after I had explained what happened, even telling what Klarion said about me being a Lady of Chaos.

"What proof do you have of this, Andromeda?" Batman asked, glaring at her behind his mask. She pulled out the letter and shoved it in his face. Batman took the letter and read it but then glanced up a moment later.

"And, you would just go off and meet whoever sent this?" Batman scolded, turning to me. This time, I started to get angry despite the fact that I was feeling miserable at the moment.

"I thought it was from Roy! We always write each other in Latin so of course I wouldn't think anything suspicious of it!" I shouted back at him and the others looked both shocked and concerned at the fact that I just barked at one of my superiors. Batman looked like he was ready to retort but Andromeda put a hand on my shoulder.

"Go get some rest, Heather, I'll deal with Batman." She said and narrowed her eyes at the hooded hero. I huffed and stomped out of the room, slamming the door as hard as I could behind me. I heard the others walking behind me and I stopped.

"Heather, whatever you may think, we don't blame you at all for this." M'gann said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I clenched my hands into fists.

"But it's obvious Klarion has kept tabs on you since the day he injected you with his powers. That's how he knew so much about your life." Kaldur said.

"Has he mentioned any other information? Perhaps…information dealing with past missions?" Artemis asked and I knew where they were going with this.

"No, he never mentioned anything so he must've just been following me. But, he obviously couldn't follow me into the Hall of Justice or onto missions without us finding out about it. And, somehow, after what happened tonight, I don't think he can have a hold over me anymore." I explained. When I unleashed those powers back there, I felt a slight struggle from his chaos powers but, I was able to overcome them.

"Still, we need to be sure you're not still….corrupted." Roy said, holding his injured side. I turned to them and they nodded to me. I knew what they wanted and I looked at M'gann.

"Go ahead." I said. She stepped up to me and put her hands on my head. I closed my eyes and let her cleanse the impure things from my mind and body. After a moment, she pulled away.

"I didn't feel anything. Whatever you did tonight must've knocked them out of your system." She said and I nodded.

"Thank you. I'm um….going to go to bed. I'll see you all in the morning." I said, turning on my heel and walking away. I didn't need to look at my teammate's faces to know they were concerned about me.

I went into my room and flopped on my bed. I hugged my pillow tightly and began to sob. They were muffled slightly by the fact I had my face in my pillow but, eventually, I cried myself to sleep.

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><p>From Author- <strong>So, some more plot twists huh? Heather…a Lady of Chaos? Or at least, partially one anyway. She's obviously not as full out as Klarion is but still. I hope you all liked this chapter! Please review!<strong>


	14. The Consequences of Silence

Disclaimer- **I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

From Author- **Thank you again my wonderful reviewers! Like I said yesterday, those were the last two chapters a day updates. I'll be able to reach my goal with only one chapter a day now. **

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>Each and every day went by and I was slowly feeling worse instead of better. Even though I know my teammates say that they don't think any differently of me, I still can tell that they look at me differently. And, God only knows what the Justice League think of me now…the fact that a partial Lady of Chaos was among them.<p>

It was just a disaster and I could feel myself shrinking away from my team.

"Heather?" Artemis said through the door to my room after she knocked. I was sitting on my bed, just staring at my wall. I don't know how long I was there for. I didn't respond to her.

"C'mon Heather, open up. I know you're in there." Artemis urged from the other side of the door. Still, I said nothing.

"Don't make me blast open this door because you know I will." She said and finally, I slowly got up from my bed and walked over to the door to open it. She stepped through a moment later, just gazing at me.

"Heather, you can't keep yourself locked away in your room like this. It's not healthy. And, the others as well as myself are worried about you." Artemis said, putting both hands on my shoulders. I was silent for a moment.

"You guys probably think I'm some evil entity now." I muttered.

"No, we don't. None of us really know what to think about this…Lady of Chaos thing but, even if you do have the chaos powers inside of you, you've overcome them numerous times already." Artemis said, making me look up at her in mild shock.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean that every time you suit up and go out with us to take down criminals, you beat those chaos powers. Chaos powers are evil and if you truly were a 'Lady of Chaos,' you would've embraced those evil powers but you didn't. You somehow were able to use those powers for good and that's what makes you a better person, Heather." Artemis answered. Again, I felt like someone both verbally slapped me and clicked a light bulb on over my head. She was right. If I didn't use the chaos powers for evil then I'm not evil. I'm better than that. A wide smile broke out on my face and I hugged Artemis tightly.

"Thank you, Artemis. Your words hit harder than any of your punches." I said, laughing. Artemis joined in the laughter and hugged me back.

"What are best friends for?" She asked, smiling at me. I smiled back and she grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the room.

"Now, c'mon, we gotta set up for Wally's surprise birthday party." She said, pulling me into the kitchen.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that." I said and she laughed.

"How could you forget? He reminds us about it about five times a day." She said and we spent the rest of the morning laughing and setting up for the party. We helped M'gann bake two cakes and some cookies.

Later on, when everyone else huddled into the kitchen, we turned off the lights and waited for Wally. I heard the zeta beams chime in his name and code number before saying that the tubes would be down because of the weather outside. The redhead walked into the room and we flipped on the lights, screaming "Surprise!" to him. He grinned happily and looked excitedly at the food and sweets.

"Happy sweet sixteen, Wally." I said, going over and hugging him. He was taller than me by a few inches but not so much that I had to practically stand on my toes like I did with Roy.

"Thanks, Heather." He said, hugging me back. I then did a little performance where I lit the candles from a good fifty feet away and didn't miss one. Everyone clapped once I was done and I bowed playfully.

"C'mon birthday boy, make a wish." M'gann said, pushing the cakes in front of the speedster. Wally grinned and blew out all of the candles in one puff of air. I helped M'gann cut the cake and pass the slices around. As tradition, we waited for the birthday boy to take the first bite…

Although, Wally just shoved the entire piece in his mouth and devoured it. I shook my head. Oh, Wally.

But, the celebration was cut short when Batman called us into the lobby, wanting us to put on our thermal stealth gear. Once in the lobby, he began explaining about how there were some suspicious ice fortresses hovering in the sky over major cities. Both the League and the team were going to take care of these fortresses.

A shame for Wally though, he had another mission but by the sound of it, it was just as important. A little girl needed a heart transplant so Wally needed to run the heart across the United States to get it to her.

Once Wally left, we headed out to go up to the ice fortresses and take them down. Guns were blasting at us from the moment we got there but we managed to take them down. It felt good, fighting alongside Andromeda again. It had been awhile since I had done this and it was even better because I was also fighting alongside the rest of the Justice League.

It felt like hours that we were fighting and perhaps it was but, eventually, we took down the fortresses and the ridiculous snow day ceased. There was still a lot of snow on the ground, of course, but, at least now there won't be any more.

Once we got back, the rest of the team was informed about what Wally did on his mission. The girl he saved was the Queen of Vlatava. So, in other words, he saved an entire country from not only losing its queen but also handing the country to who was next in line: Count Vertigo.

About a week later, we were sent on a mission to Qurac where the leader was planning on uniting Bialya and Qurac. I couldn't help but glance over at Robin, remembering how he reacted when I told him about my past, along with the others. Even after I asked him after what happened in Bialya, he respected my space and didn't look into the matter. I smiled at the thought.

While we were in Qurac, we had saved a woman and her son, Marie Logan and Garfield Logan. M'gann seemed overly fond of Marie for some odd reason but she was quick to hide it. I didn't ask questions, focused on the mission at hand.

Then, Biaylian pilots flew over and shot at the Logan's house we were recuperating in. Garfield was hurt in the attack and needed a blood transfusion. M'gann said she could do it by morphing her blood type to his. She saved his life.

Going back to the real mission at hand, we found out how the leader was being controlled (because we knew he would never give Qurac to Queen Bee willingly). It was Psimon. He was back but, something had happened before we could go in and stop him. I don't know what he did but it was like he took a sledgehammer to my head and knocked me out. When I came to along with the others, M'gann had subdued him.

We headed back to the Logan's to check up on Garfield. The boy had mentioned how M'gann looked identical to how his mom looked when she was on this old show called _Hello, Megan!_ He showed us a tape and it was true, M'gann looked exactly like her. When asked about it, M'gann said that the form she was in right now (the Marie Logan look alike) wasn't her true form. She then showed us her real form: a bald Martian with similar facial structures to Martian Manhunter. We still accepted her, of course, but, she remained convinced that the image she put up, the one that looked like Megan from the show, was who she really was.

Once we had headed home and were back in the Cave, I decided to give Roy a call to let him know that I was doing better after my talk with Artemis a few days ago. I called his number and he picked up a moment later.

"Hello?"

"Hey Roy." I said.

"Hey Heather. How…how are you feeling?" He asked a little slowly, like he was afraid that certain words would hurt me.

"Much better. Artemis and I had a talk and she knocked some sense into me." I said, leaning back on my bed with the phone pressed to my ear.

"I hope not literally." Roy chuckled.

"If I didn't let her words sink in, she might've." I said, giggling. There was a little bit of silence between us before I broke it.

"Hey…can I come see you? I miss you." I whispered and it was true. Hearing his voice suddenly made me feel slightly lonely. I wanted to see him.

"Of course. Come on over." Roy said and I smiled before saying a quick goodbye and hanging up. Then, I swung my legs over the bed, grabbed my winter jacket and headed for the zeta tubes. They zapped me to Star City and I made my way to Roy's. When I got there, I knocked on the door and a moment later, Roy opened the door. He was wearing a red turtle neck and black sweats. I smiled and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his face down to kiss me. I felt him smile and he kissed me back, pulling me into his apartment and shutting the door with his foot. We broke apart a moment later and he let me take off my shoes and coat.

"Hot chocolate?" He asked, going over to the cabinets and pulling out the box of hot cocoa mix. I looked at the box.

"It has mini marshmallows in it….I'm sold." I said, grinning. Roy laughed and pulled out two packets before grabbing some cups. I grabbed the tea kettle and filled it with water before turning on the stove, letting the water boil. Once it boiled, or was at least hot enough, we poured the water in and stirred in the mix. I blew on the steaming drink and took a sip. The warmth filled my body and it felt so nice and tasted so good.

Kudos to whoever created chocolate.

"How about we watch a movie?" Roy suggested, as we walked into his living room. I smiled.

"So we can cuddle?" I asked, smiling innocently. Roy looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What? You're cuddle-able." I said and now he gave me a look like 'are-you-serious?'

"Is that even a word?" He asked.

"In my book, it is." He chuckled and shook his head before ruffling my hair.

"Cute, Heather, very cute." He said, smiling at me. I smiled back and we sat down on the couch, looking through his movie collection. Finally, we settled on watching Lord of the Rings the Fellowship of the Ring. I drank the rest of my drink before setting the empty cup down on the coffee table and lacing my hand with Roy's. He didn't seem to mind as we sat there, watching the movie and enjoying each other's company.

One part came up in the movie that made me realize even more that I shouldn't keep myself away from people and that I should continue on:

"_I wish the Ring had never come to me; I wish none of this had happened."_

"_So do all who live to see such times but that is not for them to decide. All that we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."_

I smiled at the conversation between Frodo and Gandalf. The wizard was right. I shouldn't waste my time away and keeping myself away from people. Because, if I do that, I'll only be hurting the people I care about and the people that care about me.

I squeezed Roy's hand a little out of reflex at that thought. I then scooted closer to him and leaned my hand on his shoulder. He unlaced our fingers and used that arm to wrap it around my shoulder, holding me there.

I won't give this up. I'll protect what I have.

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><p>From Author- <strong>So I apologize for the short chapter but today was such a drag…it was hard for me to motivate myself to type today. But still, I made up for it with a little RoyxHeather time. Hope you all don't hate me for the short chapter. Review please!<strong>


	15. Risk and Exposure

Disclaimer- **I do not own anything of Young Justice. **

From Author- **I really don't have much to say except I'm sorry, everyone. You all wouldn't believe what I've gone through these past few months. I know I tried to get this story done before I left for school but that didn't work out. School was hard enough and not just because of the work load. My brother passed away so please, I hope everyone can understand why I've been on a few months' hiatus. But, this story is nearly done and I will finish it. I promised you all that and I will see to it that I fulfill that promise! **

**I'm on Christmas/winter break, whatever you want to call it, so I have a good month and a half or so to finish this up. Maybe if I get back into the spirit, I will start working on other stories. Who knows? Anyway, hope you all enjoy the chapter and I hope everyone had a great Christmas!**

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><p>~~At the Watch Tower~~<p>

Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman gazed at everyone in the meeting room of the Watch Tower. The three of them knew why they were there and so did everyone else. New superheroes were roaming the streets, playing, for lack of a better word, rogue when it came to the superhero thing. Also, there was the matter of the younger supers, the "sidekicks."

That's why they were here: to discuss which hero would get the honor to be administered into the Justice League.

After much debate, the members finally agreed to let the following enter the Justice League: Icon, Atom, Plastic Man, Blue Devil, and Red Arrow. When the subject of the young team of heroes came up, there was much debate than any other of the candidates. There was no doubt that Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad could be trusted enough to let them into the League but other members still held suspicion.

First was Miss Martian. Though she claimed to be Martian Manhunter's niece, most were suspicious of that fact. But eventually, after Manhunter defended his niece, they all agreed to let her into the League.

Second was Superboy. The League was, of course, suspicious from the beginning about him. What other programming could have been put inside Connor's head without him knowing? This was one of the reasons why the team was being monitored. Even so, Superboy had proved himself more than a dozen times that not only was he trustworthy but also League material.

Third was Artemis. Her past is shrouded in secret. She claims to be Green Arrow's niece but for those who have known Arrow long enough, like Black Canary and Red Arrow, say that this is not true. Despite this, Artemis proved herself enough to be allowed into the League.

The last candidate was the one that had the longest debate of the night: Tempest.

"We all know this new information about Tempest's past is quite shocking and very unnerving. Do we risk her having access to the League's innermost secrets by letting her join?" Batman asked the group of heroes. Andromeda clenched her fists slightly.

"She has been with us for years! How could you even think she'd do anything to betray the League as well as her current team?" She shouted.

"She has the Chaos powers inside of her. How do we know she is not just putting on the façade of making us believe she knew nothing about it?" Doctor Fate asked. Wonder Woman could see Andromeda about to explode but she silenced her by placing a hand over hers. She spoke up instead of the pyro.

"I do not believe she is hiding behind a mask like that, Fate. You saw the way she reacted when she found out. She was terrified and she still is terrified."

"Who could blame her? She just found out she has a true demon living inside of her." Flash added. There was a bit of silence as the other League members pondered this. Wonder Woman still held a firm grip on Andromeda's hand to keep her from saying something she might regret.

"I have seen enough of her to know that she could not be a traitor. But, I still do not think it would be wise to let her join in the League." Martian Manhunter spoke.

"So you think we should let her teammates join but let her sit in the dark, J'onn?" Black Canary chimed in, a bit of bitterness behind her voice. The Martian didn't say anything; he just coughed a little awkwardly and turned his gaze to his hands that were resting on the table. He didn't know how to answer that. But everyone suddenly jumped when Andromeda slammed her hands on the table and stood up.

"I will not stand by and listen to everyone talking about my daughter as if she is about to bring upon an apocalypse! She didn't even know about this, neither did I! It isn't her fault!" She shouted but was cut off from her venting by Batman.

"Which is exactly why we are conflicted at the moment with this decision, Andromeda." The flame wielder gazed at the dark knight. Even though he wore the mask, she knew he had a very stern look in his eyes, for his face was stern and serious.

"We know that Tempest is trustworthy and would be a good addition to the League. However, due to these…Chaos powers that are inside her, we don't know what else she may be capable of. I'm not saying that she would do anything _purposely_ but there may be something in her that may cause her to betray us, whether she may know about it or not. Or, she could be coerced into betrayal." He finished. Andromeda sighed and sat down after a moment. Wonder Woman patted her hand in a comforting gesture.

"Like it or not, we all need to make a decision on this." Superman added, standing up alongside Batman. The League members nodded and continued on with their meeting.

~~~At Mount Justice~~~

M'gann, Zatanna and I were all in the kitchen getting ready for Thanksgiving. I was busy baking all of the desserts while M'gann and Zatanna were getting the food and, of course, the turkey ready. Connor and Wolf were sitting just outside the kitchen watching us.

"Alright, the turkey's all seasoned and ready to cook." Zatanna said once she finished a spell that perfectly seasoned the bird. M'gann levitated the tray into the oven and closed the door. I had just finished with a batch of cookies and was neatly placing them on a plate. The cookies were all in different shapes: pumpkins, leaves and turkeys.

"_Wally!_" I exclaimed. I was just about to start frosting the cookies when he came up behind me and dipped his finger into the bowl, tasting the sweet flavoring. He grinned at me and ducked as I swung the wooden spoon in my hand at him.

"Sorry I can't stay to eat some more frosting, gotta get home before my mom yells at me for being late!" And with that, he took off running.

"Part of me hopes he does get home late so he gets a good scolding from his mommy." I said, frosting the cookies. M'gann laughed but it was cut short when we heard Zatanna crying a little.

"Zatanna, you okay?" M'gann asked. She quickly wiped her eyes.

"Sorry it's just…this is my first Thanksgiving without my dad." She said, sadly. M'gann went over to hug her and I placed the frosting bowl on the counter to go over and do the same. We stood there comforting her for a few minutes before we continued getting ready for Thanksgiving.

"Hey, why don't you invite Roy over, Heather?" M'gann suggested as we began setting up the table for dinner.

"I was thinking about it but I'm not sure if he'll come." I admitted, setting the glasses down on the table. Zatanna walked right behind me, setting up the napkins and utensils.

"Oh come on, you're his girlfriend. You could totally get him to come." She said, grinning. I laughed. Sometimes, I really am amazed at Zatanna's little mischievous side she had. I finished placing the glasses.

"Alright alright, I'll give him a call." I said, going back into the kitchen to retrieve my phone. I dialed Roy's number and put the phone to my ear. It rang twice before…

"Hello?"

"Hey Roy. Happy Thanksgiving!" I said. I heard him chuckle.

"Thanks, Heather. Happy Thanksgiving." He replied. I thought I saw Zatanna and M'gann poking their heads around the corner of the kitchen. I turned my back to them.

"Are you doing anything today, to ya know, celebrate?" I asked.

"Not really. I was just planning on doing some patrolling and make myself a little dinner. What about you?"

"Mom's away with some meeting with the League so I'm here at the Cave helping M'gann and Zatanna prepare the dinner and everything." I replied and this time, Zatanna and M'gann came into view and tapped their feet at me. I moved my mouth away from the phone.

"What?"

"Would you just ask him already?" Zatanna said.

"Who is that?" I heard Roy ask on the line. I rolled my eyes and replied back to him.

"It's just Zatanna. Listen, if you're not doing anything, why not come over here and celebrate with us?" I asked. There was a pause from the archer.

"Maybe. I'm not sure." He finally replied. I sighed. M'gann must have understood the meaning behind the sigh because she suddenly spoke to me mentally: _Use the girlfriend trick!_ I smiled at her and then made my response to Roy.

"Come on, Roy. No need for you to be alone during the holidays!"

"I do quite well being alone, Heather, you know that."

"Please? For me?" That was it. The girlfriend trick. Add a little bit of a desperate/whimpering kind of tone and it nearly always works.

"…Alright fine. I'll be there in a little bit." Roy said.

Success!

We hung up a moment later and once I looked at Zatanna and M'gann, all three of us burst out laughing. I felt a little bad that I had used that trick on Roy but hey, it was all in good fun. Besides, I think coming around here loosens him up a bit about this place.

A little while later, Roy entered the Cave via zeta tube. I greeted him with a kiss which he returned. All of us then sat around the table and ate. Everything was delicious and overall, it was a great Thanksgiving. I knew even Roy thought so.

"Thanks for coming, Roy." I said and walked with him over to the zeta tubes when he was about to leave.

"I'm actually glad that you got me to come today. I…had a good time." He said, giving me a small smile. I smiled back and we shared one more kiss before I stepped back and let him leave. Though, before he completely vanished, he turned to me and said:

"Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad being here after all."

At the time, I just thought he meant coming around more often. I truly wasn't expecting that a week later, Roy had come to the Cave, dressed in his Red Arrow attire and told Green Arrow, who was there, that he had decided to join the team. I was ecstatic! But, when I glanced over at Artemis, I thought I saw her face drop.

"Alright everyone, listen up. Batman and Robin are out doing their patrol duties but, this was brought to my attention." Green Arrow said, pulling up the holograph computer screen and showing Sportsmaster's shot along with a stilled security camera shot of him at an airport, without his mask.

"Since we don't need everyone for this stealth mission, I was suggesting maybe just a small group. Red Arrow, Kid Flash, Aqualad and Tempest sound good?" Arrow said and the four of us grinned at one another.

"I'm coming too." Artemis chimed in. "Without M'gann, there isn't a proper pilot here to steer the bioship." She said and my eyebrows furrowed a little.

"Artemis, I've had plenty of experience with…" Artemis shot me a deadly look that made me shut up instantly and turn away from her. Point made.

So after the rest of us suited up, we made our way into the bioship and Artemis piloted it to New Orleans. Artemis put the bioship in camouflage mode and I stayed in there with her while Wally, Roy and Kaldur went to hide in the shadows. We stayed just outside a small boat rental place by the bayou and waited for Sportsmaster. After about an hour of waiting, we finally heard some orders from Roy.

"Alright, he's heading north. Stay with him but keep a good distance back. We don't know if he can see through Martian camouflage or not so that means Artemis, _you keep your distance_." I frowned at the tone in his voice and Artemis didn't look happy about it either.

"Knock it off, Arrow. Artemis knows the drill, you don't need to treat her like a five year old." I spat back at him over the comm link. Does he truly still hold bitterness towards her even after all these months? Roy didn't respond and Artemis didn't so much as thank me for defending her. I felt a little annoyed but I shook it off. I had to focus on the mission right now.

Artemis and I followed Sportsmaster in the bioship while Arrow followed him on a jet ski, Aqualad underwater and Kid Flash on a motorcycle on the road nearby. We followed him for a little while before coming to a stop. Arrow went on land to follow him further and ordered Artemis and I to stand by. However, Artemis began moving the bioship over the woods near Sportsmaster.

"What are you doing? We're supposed to stay back!" I whispered to her. She didn't answer me, opened up a hole in the bioship and jumped through. I glared after her as she traveled further into the woods towards Sportsmaster. Okay, first she doesn't thank me for the defending and now she's completely ignoring me? What's with her? Regardless of my emotions at the moment, I jumped down with her as well and hid behind some trees opposite her.

A few moments later, after watching Sportsmaster's moves, I heard voices coming from behind me, by where Artemis was hiding. I ran over to investigate to see her pointing an arrow at Cheshire. Before I could jump in to help, someone beat me to it. An arrow flew by my ear and exploded into a net that trapped the cat-like assassin against a tree. Red Arrow appeared next to me.

"Well, isn't this a cute little bunch?" Cheshire joked, chuckling. Artemis and Arrow readied their bows and I created two fire swords, just in case she made a quick break and would go toe-to-toe with me. I could hear a train roaring nearby and it suddenly whipped past the trees a few feet away from us. Was this what Sportsmaster was waiting for?

Cheshire, as I suspected, cut free of her binds and went straight for us. She took down Artemis quickly and then after a quick little sword to sword combat, knocked me back. I got up and went to help Artemis get up when my eyes caught something out of the corner of my eye. Cheshire had Red Arrow pinned down but that's not what got me to gasp and stare. She had taken off her mask, leaned down and _kissed_ him, full on the lips!

My grip on Artemis' arm let go and she stumbled to get up. I don't know what happened to me after that but something inside me snapped. Anger boiled from the tips of my toes all the way up to my brain and I felt my flames erupting out of my hands without my brain fully processing that I had done so. I shot a long streak of fire at Cheshire, who dodged out of the way just in time, much to my annoyance. I was so angry, so full of hatred for her at the moment that I barely noticed I singed Arrow's arm from my fire. At the moment, I didn't care, I just wanted to burn Cheshire's body until there was nothing left of her.

My focus was all on Cheshire, I barely noticed anything else around me. Kid Flash seemed to appear out of nowhere, Red Arrow vanished, maybe to go after Sportsmaster and Artemis stayed by to help me and KF take down Cheshire. I didn't care either way, as long as neither of them got in my way of burning Cheshire away to ash.

The fight was all a blur in my mind. All I remember was shooting a bunch of fireballs at the assassin yet somehow, she got away. I growled under my breath and kicked a nearby tree, not caring about the pain that shot up my foot. I was just barely listening to the others behind me.

"We'll track her and Sportsmaster. Even though they are both going opposite directions, I'm sure they'll meet up somewhere." Aqualad said.

"I'll follow in the bioship." Artemis said, still sounding upset. I followed her, not saying a word to the others and the two of us got into the ship. But, when we did, Artemis turned to me.

"Maybe you should go with the others." She suggested and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Why? We should both go after Cheshire." I could hear the hatred in my voice and tried to calm down a little but that little flame inside me was still burning.

"I think you'll be more useful to the others." She said and my eyes narrowed at her.

"Alright fine, I can take a hint when someone doesn't want me around." I growled at her before jumping back down through the hole in the ship before she had time to respond. I went along with the others to go after Sportsmaster.

However, during our pursuit, we were radioed by Red Arrow saying he and Artemis found both Cheshire and Sportsmaster. Kid Flash went up ahead while Aqualad and I did our best to get to their position. By the time we did, however, Cheshire and Sportsmaster were gone as well as their comrades that were also there.

Back at the Cave, we had to inform Red Tornado and the others about how we had failed the mission. By now, I had calmed down about Cheshire and was more so upset at the fact that the mission ended badly. When I found out that Artemis had tricked us by sending us after the wrong tracer that she had claimed to put on Cheshire, my anger leaned towards her. And, of course, Red Arrow was still being bitter to Artemis about the whole "betrayal" scenario which was making me mad at him. I stormed off without saying a word to anyone. I went to my room and threw myself on the bed, putting my head in my hands.

"Heather?" Roy's voice asked from the doorway to my room. I moved my hands away from my face and glared at him slightly.

"Go away." I muttered, turning away from him.

"Come on, Heather, are you seriously mad at me? For what?" Roy asked, coming in and standing next to me. I stood up, turned to him and glared.

"Because I'm sick of you having this stupid attitude and accusing my friends of being traitors! You don't even know them, yet I do but you would never listen to me, would you?" I shouted. It was Roy's turn to glare this time.

"You know Artemis can't be trusted! Tonight was proof! She…" I cut him off.

"She messed up, yes. She made a mistake, yes. But she didn't betray us." I shot back. My anger was beginning to boil again; I could feel it rising inside me. Roy's glare deepened, I could tell even with the mask on.

"You're really going to get on me about this? When I did absolutely nothing wrong?" He shouted. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Nothing wrong? You did plenty wrong! It was that damn temper of yours that led you to do wrong! You need to learn to control it!" I screamed back at him.

"_I_ need to control my temper? Oh that's really rich coming from the girl who nearly charred Cheshire tonight over a _kiss_!" He yelled. I couldn't take it anymore. My anger blinded me again and next thing I knew, my palm stung slightly and I could see a red mark on Roy's cheek. He held the spot and glared down at me.

"What the hell's your problem, Heather?" He growled at me. My hands were shaking. I couldn't believe the thought crossed my mind but, I was truly thinking of really hurting Roy at the moment. Though, I just stood there, trying to regain my breath and calm my anger. I had never felt myself get this angry before. I didn't know what was wrong and it scared me slightly.

"Get out."

"What?"

"Get out, Roy." I turned away from him because I was afraid that if I stared any longer at his angry face, I may truly attack him. Roy didn't respond, he just left but I could practically feel the anger radiating off of him.

I collapsed on the bed, suddenly feeling very exhausted. How could I have lost my temper like that? Sure, bad guys like Cheshire deserved a good beating and to be sent to jail but burnt alive? How could something so cruel even cross my mind? And how could I ever think of truly hurting Roy? I lay down on my bed and just stared at the wall.

"What's wrong with me?" I whispered to myself and did my best to get some sleep though I had a feeling I wasn't going to get even a wink of it.

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><p>From Author- <strong>So I made this one a bit longer than my other ones because I haven't written in a while. Again, I hope you all can understand why I haven't updated and still review on this story. That would great, thank you.<strong>


	16. Dare for a Snack?

Disclaimer- **I do not own anything of Young Justice.**

From Author- **So I was kind of expecting few reviews but I saw that a lot of people viewed it so that obviously means I still have fans out there who favorite this story and continues to read but, I still would like to hear your thoughts on it. I would truly like to know that there are still people out there that are enjoying my work. Thank you.**

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><p>Part of me felt so terrible about my outburst at Roy the other day but the other part of me was still angry at his attitude. I wanted to apologize and make up but, every time I saw him (which, in all honesty wasn't much—he wasn't at the Cave a lot) that same little burning flame inside me began to increase. I would also be reminded of exactly <em>why<em> I was so angry at him and that fueled the fire inside me to the point where I would forget about talking to him at all.

And neither of us did any talking for the next two weeks.

Robin had called Artemis, Miss Martian, Superboy and me into the main lobby to discuss about certain robberies that have been happening all over Europe. A lot of high tech gear had been stolen and a very odd connection was also brought up: the thefts happened at the time Haly's Circus, a traveling circus, was in that specific city in the European countries.

And, just as Robin was explaining that Batman wanted the five of us to go undercover, Red Arrow appeared behind the boy wonder and asked to join as well. I couldn't really hear what they were saying, because they were whispering to each other but I couldn't pay attention anyway, I was too busy trying not to look at Roy and also trying to keep my temper in check.

"Alright, let's move out." Robin said and we all headed into the bioship to head to where Haly's circus was planning on stopping for their next upcoming performance. Robin had pulled some strings with the ring leader and we figured out our cover. We were all known as the Daring Dangers. It's so cliché but hey, as long as it works. What was even more so is that we all had undercover names that started with a "d": Robin was Dan, M'gann was Dawn, Artemis was Diane, Roy was Dane, Connor was Dean and I was Donna.

At our "debut" performance as the Dangers, we were greeted with much applause from the audience. We all had our parts. Robin and M'gann were the acrobats, Connor did the barrel toss, Roy and Artemis were the archers and I was the flaming baton twirler. It sounds a little cheerleader but not when the flames you're using are twice as long as your arm length and then shoot up into the air towards the acrobats. It was really no problem for me though, the batons I had were actually special ones that wouldn't melt with extreme heat from the flames because my flames are much hotter than the flames a regular baton twirler might use.

Despite Robin being sick with a flu he says is going around, the performance went well and we all headed backstage once we were done. I adjusted the mask we all had to wear to make sure it wouldn't fall off. The fact that it only stayed on due to a small knot in the back makes me nervous. Don't want to be accidentally revealing myself to everyone. Although, the outfits we wore did give me some nice perks. I got to see Roy walk around nearly shirtless.

_Focus on the mission at hand! Besides, you're still mad at him, remember?_ The voice in my head reminded me. I could slap myself for thinking such stupid things! Seriously, am I seventeen or am I five? Get it together, Heather! Actually, for the time being, I should say, get it together _Donna_.

Anyway, it seems the circus has already been getting some heat from the authorities. An officer dropped by backstage and confronted Haly about it. He denied anything to do with the robberies but it was crucial we find out anything before the authorities did and shut Haly down.

So, later that same night, we did some investigating. We scoped out the possibilities of where the next robbery might happen, based on what has already been stolen in the previous robberies and came to a warehouse. There wasn't much activity at first but then, someone began sneaking around, someone with very good acrobatic skills.

However, when we tried to stop the thief, he suddenly pulled out a torch and blew fire at us, like the horned fire breather at the circus. An acrobat or a fire breather, who was this guy?

"We need to get out!" Red Arrow warned us as the fire began to spread. However, it spread further into barrels of live ammo. An explosion erupted around us and I used my powers to try and diminish any harm to my teammates.

"I'll hold off the fire and smoke as long as I can, you guys get out of here!" I shouted over the crumbling of the building. Superboy grabbed Miss Martian, for she looked ready to pass out, while Red Arrow and Artemis helped Robin out. I followed them while still trying to keep the flames away from them. Once we were out, we headed back towards the circus and put our disguises back on to get a few hours of sleep.

When we woke up the next day, Haly was getting pestered by the police once again. He told the officer he checked everyone's rooms and they were all asleep. Problem was, we weren't in bed so could there be a possibility he was lying to cover up for not only us, but someone else?

"Alright, here's the footage from some of the other robberies." Robin said once we were back on the train, in a private room to chat. He showed us the camera footage and with each tape we watched, we saw that almost every one of the circus acts could have been the thieves. Was the entire circus behind these robberies? Was Haly the ringleader for not only the circus but these thefts too?

"It looks pretty bad for Haly, here." I pointed out, looking at the footage while sitting next to Robin. Robin turned off the footage and stood up, obviously angry.

"You don't know that!" He shouted and then stormed out of the room. I blinked. What was his problem? Why was he getting so touchy about Haly?

"Well, what if I read Haly's mind? That would tell us a thing or two." M'gann said and I was just about to agree with her when Roy spoke up.

"Do you really think that's wise? You might accidentally slip and let him know a thing or two about us." He said and I couldn't help but turn and glare at him. However, Superboy beat me to saying something bad at him.

"That's all you're here for, isn't it? To try and find this so called mole. When are we going to put this to rest?" Superboy asked, getting right in Red Arrow's face. Arrow glared right back at him.

"Until I find out who exactly is the mole."

"How about I just shut you up for good?" Superboy challenged but then M'gann stepped in to break up the fight. She pulled Superboy out of the room. I sat there with my arms crossed, also trying not to blow up in Roy's face but he was pissing me off again.

"Look, none of us are angels and we're not trying to act as such but we're all a team. That practically makes us family so try not to be so narrow-minded about all of this." Artemis said, stood up and then left. There was silence as I tried to think of something to say but calmly, not aggressively. Again, I could feel myself getting so angry for no reason. It made me feel like a child and I hated it.

"Well? Aren't you going to say something?" Roy said, making me look up at him. I stared into his eyes for a moment but then sighed and stood up.

"Roy, I love you but, I have to agree with Artemis. You have been pretty close-minded lately and it's not making things better for the members of the team. So please, just ease up and give them a chance, okay?" I said and then turned to leave the room. Just then, Haly called us all out to pack things away in the train. Our next stop was Geneva.

However, once we got on the train and into our compartment, M'gann, I mean Dawn, suddenly came down with that flu that was spreading around. I hope I didn't get it. I hate being sick. Anyway, we left the compartment and I overheard "Dan" talking with Haly about Ray, one of the performers who we believed may not just be spreading the flu around…

Once we went to search Ray's room, not only did we find out he wasn't in bed resting as Haly claimed he was but we also find other evidence to condemn him for the previous robberies. Robin ordered us to split up and search the train for any sign of Ray.

I was just about to search my third compartment when I heard Robin contact us through the comm link. Apparently, someone had taken M'gann's powers somehow. So, we're looking for someone with telekinesis. Just as I ran that thought through my mind, Superboy alerted us he found someone with those powers and he tried to escape on top of the train cars. We all confronted him and Robin revealed his true identity: the Parasite, a villain who could sap the powers of others through touch.

After a brief battle on the train, not only did Parasite sap away Superboy's powers but he also escaped. Crazy thing was, he had disintegrated Red Arrow's and Artemis' bows. Looks like he was able to not only take away powers from people, but even people like Superboy who had the genetic potential for other certain powers. Great. Just great.

However, Robin had managed to snag a flash drive from Parasite's pocket. It showed his plans, all of the things he stole were components to make a weapon that could generate black holes. However, he still needed a particle accelerator. Problem was, there was one in Geneva, which is where the circus is stopping next.

We made our way to the lab in Geneva and we knew Parasite was there because there were unconscious guards all around the grounds. When we got inside, we saw that Parasite was already starting up the machine. Superboy created a distraction while we figured out a way to stop Parasite.

"Listen, he has my powers right? Well, if that's the case, then he'll have my weakness too!" M'gann said. Robin gave his orders to Red Arrow and Artemis and I stood by to wait for my time. M'gann distracted Parasite while Red Arrow shot an arrow at him that produced the flammable foam. However, Parasite managed to use the Martian powers to nearly crush him to death. I was about to move but then I remembered my orders. C'mon Artemis, _hurry_!

Finally, Artemis shot her arrow at Parasite, causing a small explosion around him, making him drop Red Arrow. That was my cue. I stepped forward and manipulated the flames around Parasite so that a tornado wall formed around him while Robin began to shut down the machine. M'gann's plan worked; Parasite was susceptible to fire just like she was and ended up passing out. Robin finished shutting down the machine and I calmed the flames down. The authorities arrived soon afterward and took care of Parasite.

"Here," Artemis said, offering her hand to Red Arrow. I watched as he slowly grasped her hand and accepted her help, standing up straight.

"I'm sorry. I can see things now, none of you are traitors, otherwise any one of you could have betrayed us tonight." He said and I smiled. We headed back to Haly's circus but Robin was the one to assure Haly that everything was fine and the suspect was caught. Everyone else was back in the compartment waiting for him to return so we could head home. I was staring out the window and didn't notice the others leaving. Everyone except Roy, that is. I saw him sit across from me out of the corner of my eye.

"Heather, I umm…"

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry, Roy." I said, turning my gaze to him. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It was stupid and irrational." He let out a small chuckle.

"That makes two of us." He said, giving me a small smile. "I'm sorry too." I smiled back. I then got up and sat on his lap. He held me in his arms for a moment or two then we ended up kissing. Don't know how but don't care! However, it was interrupted by a loud cough from the doorway. We pulled apart to see the others standing there, all with grins on their faces.

"Looks like you two kiss and made up….heavy on the kissing part." Robin said and the others laughed while I just blushed and got off of Roy's lap. But, I ended up laughing a little myself at the situation.

When we headed back to the Cave, Artemis pulled me over because she said she wanted to talk to me. I watched as the others went to their rooms except for Roy who left the Cave to go home, most likely.

"What's up, Artemis?" I asked once we got into the kitchen. She leaned her back against the counter and placed her hands on it for balance.

"Are you….okay?" I blinked at her.

"What?"

"I mean…have you been feeling alright lately? There have been times throughout this week that you haven't really been yourself." She asked. I stayed silent for a moment and turned away from her.

"What do you mean? I'm completely fine." I lied, hoping she wouldn't push any further. But, knowing Artemis….

"You're lying. Tell me what's up."

She _would_ push.

"There's nothing wrong, Artemis, really. No need to worry about me." I said and put in a slight undertone that tried to give her the hint that I wanted to end the conversation but she wouldn't have any of that…as I suspected again.

"Cut the crap, Heather. I know something's up. Even though I gave you that talk after that whole Klarion incident, you still have been getting slightly distant from everyone. And, your temper seems worse than before." She said. I turned to look at her.

"Look, there are still some times that I still try to come to terms with the fact that I have Chaos powers flowing through my damn bloodstream so _excuse me_ if I decide to sit in my room or go out somewhere to clear my head! Is that really such a crime?" I said and I could hear myself getting louder and felt my temper rising.

"I never said it was, Heather, but everyone else is concerned about this. The team, Black Canary, Red Tornado…we're all worried about you." She said and I suddenly just stopped everything that I was doing. It even felt like I had stopped breathing. The others say they're concerned….did they take that concern and use that as an excuse to have the League keep an extra close eye on me?

"So that's it, isn't it? Because I have the essence of evil inside me, you all suddenly don't trust me? You want to watch over me like a hawk to see if I slip up or betray the team? Is that it?!" I shouted at her. I felt a small bit of my conscience telling me that I was blowing this way out of proportion by my temper highly overridden that part of my brain.

"Whoa, easy Heather, I didn't mean it that way! That's not how we see it at all." Artemis said, stepping forward and reached out a hand to me but I slapped it away.

"Don't touch me!" I hissed at her then looked down. "Seems I can't trust anyone around here…" I turned on my heel and headed for the zeta tubes, ignoring Artemis calling my name. The beams zapped me to Star City and I headed straight home. I was actually glad my mother wasn't home because I didn't feel like talking to her…or anyone for that matter.

I jumped on my bed and just lay on my side, glaring at the wall. Was everyone conspiring against me or something? Did everyone on the team and the League hate me now because of the powers inside me? The thought of it made my blood boil…even more than it already was. I ended up throwing one of my pillows across the room in a small fit of rage.

"Should I come back later?" A voice asked from my window. I turned to see Roy standing on the fire escape outside my window. He then opened the window and climbed inside, closing it behind him. He was dressed in normal clothes: jeans, a long sleeved red shirt and a red and black coat and sneakers. I sighed and rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"Bad night." I muttered and I felt a shift of weight on my bed, indicating Roy just sat down on it.

"I…sort of heard it." He admitted and I looked at him. "I didn't stick around for the entire thing but I started to hear where the conversation with you and Artemis was going. But I left before I heard too much. I figured you would tell me if you wanted me to know." I sighed again and put my head in my hands.

"I feel like no one trusts me. Like they think I'm partially evil or something because of the Chaos powers. And lately, I've been feeling so angry all the time. It's exhausting and I don't know why I feel that way." I felt Roy put his arm around my shoulder and rub the opposite shoulder in a comforting gesture.

"Try not to overthink all this. Maybe that's the reason why you've been feeling so angry lately. You're thinking of the worst case scenario and it's psyching you out. Just…try to relax a little." He said, making small circles on my shoulder with his thumb. A smile slowly broke out on my face. How is that he always knows just what to say to cheer me up?

"Thanks, Roy. I'll try." I said and he kissed the top of my head. He stayed the rest of the night, keeping me company and we had a good time watching movies and shows together. I fell asleep while we watched a small marathon of Criminal Minds but, I had a sense that Roy didn't leave my side the entire night.

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><p>From Author- <strong>Woo! Finally, I got this chapter out. Took me awhile, I know, sorry about that but I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! There's only a few more left so be on the lookout for the finale! Oh and please review!<strong>


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